Experts say ‘Climate change may increase threat of malaria in CAR region’ - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Experts have said that climate change among other dangers, are capable of increasing threats of malaria in the Central African regions, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to a new report issued at an RBM Partnership to End Malaria conference in Abuja Tuesday, participating experts hanged their position on the recent survey, saying “surveillance and programme delivery need to improve to drive progress.”

Unlike countries previously surveyed in West, East and Southern Africa in early 2018, Central African respondents saw climate change as more of a threat. One respondent in Rwanda worried that malaria was creeping up into highland regions which had previously been free of the disease, and others discussed how changing rainfall patterns could have an impact on mosquito breeding seasons.

More domestic and international funding was also cited as critical, with respondents from Cameroon, DRC, and Republic of Congo saying more support is needed. Earlier this month, at the recent Replenishment conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, world leaders increased funding for programmes addressing these diseases with pledges totaling $14 billion for the period 2020-2023, meeting the Global Fund’s funding target. Rwanda pledged $2.5 million, DRC, Congo and Cameroon also made domestic resource pledges of $6 million, $5.5 million and $5 million, respectively.

Dr Richard Nchabi Kamwi, Ambassador for the Elimination 8 countries and a co-chair of the study, said: “Maintaining momentum against malaria requires strong political leadership, resilient health systems and securing additional resources. The pledges made at the recent Global Fund replenishment are heartening signs that critical resources are forthcoming.” Dr Kamwi continued:

“It’s also important that Cameroon and DRC have been identified by the World Health Organization and RBM Partnership as “high burden to high impact” (HBHI) countries, ensuring these countries will benefit from increased attention and investment from the international community.” The other study co-chair is Professor Bob Snow, KEMRI-Wellcome-University of Oxford Collaborative Programme in Kenya.

HBHI is an initiative supported by the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and the World Health Organization to build international support and country-led responses to reignite the pace of progress in the global malaria fight. Respondents associated with malaria control programmes in the two HBHI countries in the study were aware of the strategy and believed that with sufficient resources it would be highly beneficial.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Central African countries optimistic about halving malaria deaths - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Central African countries are optimistic about halving malaria deaths in the region by 2030, rather than elimination, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Latest surveyed showed that these countries believed halving malaria deaths is more achievable than elimination by 2030.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that Central Africa is fighting to maintain momentum in its battle with malaria in the face of other health challenges, climate change and other threats, according to a new report issued at an RBM Partnership to End Malaria conference in Abuja Tuesday.

The report was the latest extension of the Malaria Futures for Africa (MalaFA) study, commissioned by Novartis, which has already conducted similar research across 15 countries, including Nigeria, to survey African malaria stakeholders on progress and challenges towards global malaria targets. The new report involved interviews with 23 politicians, senior civil servants, malaria programme directors, researchers and NGOs in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. All four are countries that have a significant malaria burden and differing policies in place to fight the disease.

In Rwanda, respondents were mainly positive about the country’s fight against the disease, citing high levels of political support and funding. In Cameroon, DRC and the Republic of the Congo respondents shared the view that halving deaths by 2030 was more achievable than elimination.

Respondents in Cameroon, DRC and the Republic of the Congo were concerned about access to health services, inadequately trained personnel, substandard or falsified antimalarials and self-treatment without diagnosis – which could potentially accelerate development of resistance to treatment. These concerns are shared in many other countries previously surveyed.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Standard Bank partners Rhiza Africa on data-driven AgroTech - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The Standard Bank has partnered Rhiza Africa in a bid to boost Agricultural produce and increase farmers’ yield, through innovation, driven by digital intelligence, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Standard Bank’s satellite hosted-remote sensing innovation is delivered in partnership with service provider RHIZA Africa and backed by Origin Enterprises PLC and the European Space Agency.

About 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land presents is situated in Africa, which presents a major opportunity to meet the 70 per cent increase in global food demand expected by 2050. Africa also has potentials to grow through dramatically increasing its agricultural yields. However, Africa’s current dependence on traditional small-scale farming techniques returns the lowest yield per hectare globally.

While fertilizer, improved agricultural cultivation and livestock practices as well as better seed (biotech) can help improve yields, by far the biggest opportunity within the grasp of African agriculture lies in ‘agritech’, the intelligent use of data enabled by new digital technologies.

Data therefore presents an opportunity to further boost the yield for African agriculture. According to Abrie Rautenbach, Head, Agribusiness, Business Banking for Africa Regions at Standard Bank said: “Information is the key to realise Africa’s vast agricultural potential. Digital technologies are merely the tools that will deliver the information.” As a result of the partnership, farmers and agronomists can take advantage of digital tools developed for the agricultural sector.

Speaking on the tools, Danie Swart, General Manager for RHIZA Africa said: “Contour is an aggregated remote sensing information platform with a complete suite of farm monitoring tools for farmers, whereas GRID is a digital service for financial partners and farmers that helps them grow together.”

Using algorithms to analyse and interpret images, Contour and Grid share data on; local weather, soil moisture, field accessibility and leaf wetness, while also providing optical satellite monitoring of area planted, germination and growth progress. This enables growth stage assessments, yield prediction and ultimately yield-enhancement.

Available on mobile and desktop, Contour is a digital platform and mobile app providing precision farming tools enabling; customer creation, field mapping, agronomic planning and recording, and crop and input allocation.

“Clients can use the information to understand the health of a crop; do fertilizer and spray planning; identify flooded areas; understand ground conditions – such as soil health and moisture levels – and monitor historical weather” Swart said.

The data that Contour provides clients enables farmers to make better decisions while mitigating risks and improving yield through optimised operations. Through soil sampling farmers can also understand in-field conditions and apply inputs to accommodate the specific needs of the soil requirements using fertilizers and lime.

This ‘agritech’ innovation allows farmers and Standard Bank to monitor crop performance on all sizes of farms and fields in all geographic regions. Both Contour and Grid also provide monitoring on an aggregated basis across regions, enabling portfolio tracking on; total hectares under a specific crop and total tonnes of inputs used.

“It is important for Standard Bank to be able to assist farmers to improve yield through relevant information that can provide a view on plant health or development issues with a specific crop. These technologies ensure that the crop is protected and, from a bank  perspective, allows any yield (and thus income) increases to be used for either credit repayment or expansion of the agricultural business” Rautenbach stated.

While this information is of huge value in driving the efficiency and productivity of individual farmers, Contour and Grid also enable Standard Bank to identify which fields in a farming

area are the best performing. While this allows the bank to asses budgeted against actual yield predictions, it also allows the bank to aggregate this information across wide areas - and work this back to the portfolio of clients that we are supporting.

Contour and Grid also enables Standard Bank to manage the financial risks associated with delivering agricultural finance. Real time visibility of crop performance affords constant updates of all Standard Bank agricultural clients and potential clients, including detailed information on crop development. This builds trust and transparency between the bank and customers, empowering farmers and enabling the bank to correctly asses risk and accurately allocate capital and cover.

Beyond this, however, “information can also inform appetite,” says Mr Rautenbach. For example, if banks and agricultural equipment sellers, know what, of how much, is planted when and where, banks can extend loans, predict income, manage risk and insurance.

“Similarly, agricultural suppliers can target informed equipment or irrigation product offerings, at the correct time, to the right farmers at the right price,” he says.

While the current technology appears sophisticated, it is very easy to use. Rautenbach continues: “As our experience in Africa has shown, there is a big opportunity for small scale farmers in out grower programmes supplying large corporates. The corporate that has signed up for the service simply opens the service to all their small-scale suppliers.

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W Initiative plans for Health Month, targets 2m women - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The W Initiative, a flagship women empowerment programme from Access Bank Plc, has unveiled plans for its 2019 W Health Month aimed at improving community awareness on health issues that affect women and their families by bridging knowledge gap, providing access to health checks and encouraging healthy lifestyle habits, NaijaAgroNet.

Running all through the month of October, NaijaAgroNet gathered the W Health Month will focus on key areas such as infertility, endometriosis, vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), cancer, maternal and neo-natal mortality.

The Coordinator ‘W’ initiative, Access Bank Plc, Ayona Trimnell, said: “Globally, the month of October is dedicated to raising awareness for Breast Cancer, a major health issue affecting mainly women. However, as an institution with focus on women, we are expanding the scope to shine the spotlight on 5 salient health issues affecting women and their families. The 2017 African Research and Population Centers, estimated 40,000 maternal deaths in Nigeria, making the country the second largest contributor to maternal mortality worldwide. There is need for us to change the story one woman at a time and we at Access Bank have been moving the needle in our own way through our flagship product, the Maternal Health Service Support (MHSS).

Activities planned during the period include free health screening, health talk by specialists, fitness classes, fund raising to support these causes etc. The Health Month will wrap up with an advocacy walk tagged ‘Walk for Women’s Health’ on Saturday 26 October 2019,” he said.

Established in 2014, the W Initiative is home to everything Access Bank has to offer women. This includes both financial and lifestyle needs. Under the Initiative, participating women and their families have access to a wide range of privileges including access to credit facilities to meet business and healthcare needs, the ‘W’ community which provides insights on family matters, health, career, lifestyle and finance. This is in addition to special offerings for the home such as discounts and freebies on health, beauty and fitness.

Health screenings will hold every Tuesday at October designed partner locations across the country.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Pix: L-R: Njideka Esomeju, Regional Sales Director, Lagos 1, Access bank Plc; Aituaje Iruobe (aka Waje ) Music Artist; Ayona Trimnell, Coordinator,  ‘W’ Initiative, Access Bank Plc; and Ada Udechukwu, Head, Women Banking, Access Bank plc at a meet-and-greet event to launch the Women's Health Month this October 2019 in Lagos recently.

UNICEF warns ‘Poor diets damaging children’s health worldwide - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

 

High number of children are suffering the consequences of poor diets and a food system that is failing them, UNICEF warned today in a new report on children, food and nutrition, and as the United Nations and partners commemorate World Food Day, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The State of the World’s Children 2019: Children, food and nutrition finds that at least 1 in 3 children under five – or 200 million – is either undernourished or overweight. Almost 2 in 3 children between six months and two years of age are not fed food that supports their rapidly growing bodies and brains. This puts them at risk of poor brain development, weak learning, low immunity, increased infections and, in many cases, death.

The report provides the most comprehensive assessment yet of 21^st century child malnutrition in all its forms. It describes a triple burden of malnutrition: Undernutrition, hidden hunger caused by a lack of essential nutrients, and overweight among children under the age of five, noting that around the world:

• 149 million children are stunted, or too short for their age, including 13.1 million children in Nigeria
• 50 million children are wasted, or too thin for their height, including 2.9 million children in Nigeria

The report warns that poor eating and feeding practices start from the earliest days of a child’s life. Though breastfeeding can save lives, for example, in Nigeria, only 27 per cent of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed and an increasing number of children are fed infant formula. This means many Nigerian children are missing out on the life-saving benefits of breastmilk which is a baby’s first vaccine and offers the best possible nutrition at the start of life.

In Nigeria, malnutrition remains a major public health and development concern:49 percent of children under five years of age are not growing well (they are either stunted, wasted or overweight). This is the second highest proportion after the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West and Central Africa region. This is partly because 34 percent of children between six months and two years of age are fed food that is not rich and diversified enough to ensure optimal growth. 

As children begin transitioning to soft or solid foods around the six-month mark, too many are introduced to the wrong kind of diet, according to the report. As children grow older, their exposure to unhealthy food becomes alarming, driven largely by inappropriate marketing and advertising, the abundance of ultra-processed foods in cities but also in remote areas, and increasing access to fast food and highly sweetened beverages.

The report also notes that climate-related disasters cause severe food crises. Drought, for example, is responsible for 80 per cent of damage and losses in agriculture globally, dramatically altering what food is available to children and families, as well as the quality and price of that food; Nigeria is also affected by climate change.

To address the growing malnutrition crisis in all its forms, UNICEF is issuing an urgent appeal to government, the private sector, donors, parents, families and businesses to help children grow healthy by:

1. Investing more resources in interventions aimed at preventing malnutrition among young children and supporting treatment when prevention fails.
2. Supporting nursing mothers to adequately feed and care for their children.
3. Empowering families, children and young people to demand nutritious food, including by improving nutrition education and using proven legislation – such as sugar taxes – to reduce demand for unhealthy foods.
4. Driving food suppliers to do the right thing for children, by incentivizing the provision of healthy, convenient and affordable foods. 
5. Building healthy food environments for children and adolescents by using proven approaches, such as accurate and easy-to-understand labelling and stronger controls on the marketing of unhealthy foods.
6. Mobilizing supportive systems – health, water and sanitation, education and social protection – to scale up nutrition results for all children.

7. Collecting, analyzing and using good-quality data and evidence to guide action and track progress.

 Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Insights on ACP extra 9m Euro - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

The recent deal between the European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, and Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Qu Dongyu, has an insight on how the deal came about to aid EU provision of an additional €9 million to support the UN agency's work in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The gradual loss of vegetative cover due to poor land management practices has led to a dramatic degradation in land and water resources - and, in the most extreme cases, to desertification. Intensive farming patterns put additional pressure on natural resources, with global trends such as climate change, urbanisation and population growth adding to the problem. Each year 12 million hectares of land lose their productive capacity due to drought and desertification.

This capacity-building programme for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States is the product of a partnership between the European Commission, the ACP countries, the UN Environment Programme and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

It builds on the achievements of previous cooperation between the EU and ACP countries. It has reached over 3 200 beneficiaries from 35 ACP countries, including government officers, civil society, the private sector and rural communities.

The programme's first two phases have mainstreamed environmental management issues within institutions and national development plans in a large number of ACP countries. For instance, the programme has supported the disposal of tons of obsolete pesticides and strengthened pesticide risk assessment procedures in several ACP countries. It has positively influenced global dialogues on the need for good governance and policy coherence to protect biodiversity.

As a result, the agriculture sector has been able to implement more effectively the relevant conventions on biodiversity and chemical and waste management. At the same time, a strong case has emerged around the need for a more joined-up approach to addressing agriculture's environmental impact. 

This programme will therefore deliver important outcomes on biodiversity preservation, contributing significantly to global efforts ahead of the upcoming Conference of Parties of the CBD (COP 15) in 2020, and establish a robust foundation for an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

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PHSAI youth identifies high risk in adolescents’ sexual behaviour - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The youth arm of the Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative (PHSAI) has attributed the high risk in sexual behaviour among Nigerian adolescents as responsible for the increasing teenage pregnancy, out of school girls, baby dumping, post abortion complication and death, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The Coordinator, Life Planning for Adolescents and Youth at PHSAI Lagos State, Abiodun Ajayi, made this disclosure while addressing participants at World Contraception Day 2019 hosted by the Pathfinder International.

Dwelling on ‘Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health (AYSRH) in Lagos,’ Ajayi noted that despite bold steps taken by the state and some stakeholders to increase young people access to youth-friendly Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services, the upsurge in sexual behaviour remained high.

He called for an urgent need to increase discussion around youth SRH cum family planning issues at all levels.

Ajayi also called for increase in funding to sufficiently meet the SRH-FP need of the high risk sexual behaviour of these rapidly growing young populations.

He identified further lack of adequate access and accurate life planning information and services, stressing that lack of youth friendly health facilities and provider bias as some of the worrisome issues.

Additionally, Ajayi said that poor knowledge of contraceptive options and benefits have been a stumbling block for the youth in the state.

“The Lagos State Youth Policy that could provide some backing to the state response to AYSRH has some significant gaps, especially the target audience which is youth between 18 and 35 years and its focus is more on poverty alleviation and other interventions as appendages,” he told NaijaAgroNet.

Ajayi lamented that though the policy had provision for reproductive health services, “it was not explicit on access to contraceptives or family planning services.”

Further, he proposed there should be an evidence based policy and legislative advocacy for implementation of AYSRH services in Lagos State.

“Enhance partnership with NGOs by the state government to establish youth friendly SRH services,” he said.

The PHSAI youth coordinator, maintained that trainings and supervisory programmes that effectively address medical and personal provider’s biases regarding young people’s use of all available contraceptives should be conducted.

Uj. N. Dominic/Editor

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FAO DG hails partnership potential with civil society -NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Multiple level partnerships have been described as critical to achieving a world without hunger, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said Saturday at a meeting with leading exponents of civil society and indigenous peoples representing small scale food producers and family farmers.

"We need all of civil society to play an active role", the Director-General said in wide-ranging remarks underscoring the need to improve global food systems. "FAO is here to help you."

He addressed the annual Forum of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism (CSM), a vehicle for the participation of non-governmental actors in policy formulation at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), itself a multistakeholder platform. Today's event focused on how to strengthen commitments to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, also known as Zero Hunger.

A cornerstone of effective action means making sure "family farmers are the final beneficiaries," Qu added, noting that the UN Decade of Family Farming  offers a great opportunity to implement and leverage ideas and recommendations made by CFS.

He emphasized the importance of learning and working together for concrete solutions with "interaction, brainstorming and open minds." In this context, digital solutions can play a decisive role in improving the livelihoods of small scale and vulnerable food producers, particularly in relation to the impacts of climate change, according to the Director-General.

Qu also emphasized that FAO would pioneer youth and women engagement initiatives at all levels and highlighted the positive way that FAO's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) helps generate economic value, knowledge and rural-development solutions.

"We need to defeat hunger and poverty, which are inextricably linked," said CFS Chair Mario Arvelo. "We need to use every tool in the toolbox, as the Director-General said."

CFS itself needs to continually expand its inclusiveness, Arvelo said.

The CSM is a self-organized body designed to give smallholder family farmers, non-governmental organizations, Indigenous Peoples, fisherfolks, herders, youth, consumers and other global citizens a voice in the work of the upcoming session of CFS, which starts on 14 October and lasts throughout the week.

The CSM's main message to the upcoming CFS session, which starts on Monday 15 October, is that "the possibility of attaining zero hunger is becoming more and more unlikely" and that policy initiatives need not just to be accelerated but to change direction.

The group noted with approval CFS progress in thematic areas such youth employment in agriculture and food systems and reiterated its priorities in the ongoing process of developing Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition, an exercise expected to be completed in 2020.

Among the panelists alongside FAO's Director-General at Saturday's event were Silvia Dywilli from the World March of Women, Nettie Wiebe of La Via Campesina, Azra Sayeed of the International Women's Alliance and Musa Sowe of ROPPA, organizations representing a broad array of global regions.

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Africa, others attract extra 9m Euro for promoting nature-friendly agro practices - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet: 

The European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, and Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Qu Dongyu, have signed a new agreement to see EU provide an additional €9 million to support the UN agency's work in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, reports NaijaAgroNet.

In particular, the funding will boost the efforts of countries in the targeted regions of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States to bring about sustainable changes in agricultural policies and practices to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and natural resources.

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu stated: "Our support for more biodiversity and better quality food is decisive for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. Agriculture and biodiversity are strongly intertwined. The agricultural sector depends heavily on biodiversity, yet it is also a contributor to biodiversity loss. This new programme will help overcome the socio-economic and political barriers that prevent countries and farmers from adopting ecosystem-based agricultural practices and approaches to biodiversity and chemical management."

Commissioner Mimica said: "Nature is under threat - the world needs more sustainable agricultural practices that boost food security, poverty reduction and economic growth, while preserving the planet's precious natural resources. I am very glad to be announcing this additional funding just two days before World Food Day. It is a further example of the EU's firm commitment to work with its ACP partner countries on these very aims."

Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary General of the ACP Group of States, said: "I welcome this new project, which is of great importance for ACP countries. Conserving biodiversity and reducing the pressure on natural resources and ecosystems, while also tackling climate change, has never been more important for our diets, our health, our planet and our survival."

Today's contract is part of a broader EU support programme promoting environmental sustainability in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries via stronger environmental governance and the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The programme will also address some of the most unsustainable practices in agriculture, such as the use of highly hazardous pesticides, and scale up ecosystem-based practices and approaches that favour natural pest control and protect pollinators and other beneficial organisms. Examples include agro-ecosystem-based approaches, organic agriculture, land restoration and landscape management, agroforestry, integrated pest management, pesticide risk reduction and the conservation of local crop diversity.

Partnerships with the private sector and civil society will act as drivers towards more sustainable agricultural systems. In addition, regional and national institutions will be able to do more to design and implement agricultural policies that enhance biodiversity, while at the same time maintaining production and profitability.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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Nigeria’s healthcare professionals need tech innovation - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Healthcare practitioners have been advised to take advantage of the several premium healthcare solutions and technologies in the advanced economy to improve the Nigerian healthcare sector, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speakers at the HealthCare Business Conference (HBC) of the Medic West Africa Exhibition and Congress, held in Lagos, South West Nigeria, said technological innovation would help bring healthcare services to millions of Nigerians.

In his remarks, Dr. Chibuzo Opara, Co-CEO, DrugStoc, said that advanced medical technology can improve the standard of medical practice in Nigeria saying that that can be done through the introduction of innovative ,high quality affordable and state-of-the art medical equipment.

Beyond the impact of technological innovation on the health sector, the practitioners also had the opportunity to examine the issue of business management alongside bookkeeping skills.

Highlighting the essence of business management, Country Director, Iqvia and Board Member of Healthcare Foundation of (HFN), Mr. Remi Adesuen said that most members of the HFN are in the SMEs sector of the economy and they offer primary healthcare services to Nigeria contrary to the notion that primary healthcare is that of government.

According to him, over 70 percent of Nigerians access their healthcare through the private sector noting that 60 percent of the practitioners are SMEs, who needs business skills and technology to give the required medical care.

He said that the HBC which was held in partnership with Anadach Group was designed to give its members attending the Medic West Africa Exhibition and Conference access to knowledge on business planning, model and innovative approach to healthcare business.

Besides those, he said that the SMEs were taking through the rudiments of bookkeeping and the regulatory laws of the several agencies that they deal with so that they don’t go against the laws of their operating environment.

He stated that the deployment of digital technology is the best adoption for the SMEs in today’s health sector particularly as the business began to grow.

Adeseun advised that the SMEs common together to access some basic services that bother on accounting, business and other related services so that the cost of those services can be reduced for them.

He called on them to look for opportunities of partnership or collaboration with other players in the public or private sector that would bring the benefit of economy of scales to bear on their businesses and improve the nation’s healthcare.

According to him, although health is a social services, the era when it was run entirely as social service has ended and as such it must be run presently as a business for the services to be sustainable.

He stated if enough fund is not generated to cover the source of fund for the business wither it is government or private, the free health will fail because there will be no longer materials for the business.

To avoid such scenario, he suggested the health insurance scheme which he said has proved effective in most advanced countries of the world saying that the Nigeria health insurance scheme has failed because it was not mandatory.

First Vice President of HFN, Dr. Festus Osoba disclosed that the Foundation is an advocacy group enable the private sector healthcare practitioner to speak with one voice in the country saying that this year it is focusing on the business aspect of healthcare services.

He noted that they are concern about the impact of technological innovation in the sector noting that was why in one of presentation focus was on electronic data, investment in data management as well as implementation and project management since data can help them grow their businesses.

He also said that HFN wants their members to be patient-centric and the right of the patient protected so that the healthcare system meets global standard.

Isaac Oyimah/Editor

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