Imal Silva is the Principal Partner of Imal Silva and Partners, a management Consulting firm. He is also the Chairman, Board of Directors of Taprobane Medical Center in Abuja. In this interview he spoke with Samuel Oyejola on the need for government, non-governmental organisations and development partners to synergize with private operators in the health sector for effective policy implementation. Excerpts;
How important is the private sector in policy implementation in the health sector?
As private sector operators we are very strong on implementation. We may not have been doing too much data collation and research as the NGO’s do, but the knowledge we have, we want to put to best use.
As private sector operators, we are MSMEs. We need to justify investments and ensure commensurate gain to our stakeholders. We are really concerned about how sustainable our effort can be. I am also interested about ways NGOs can implement their policies through people like us that are out there seeing the patients on a daily basis and having to make decisions based on real time data we generate.
We need to have a better working relationship with the NGOs and these research bases so that even as private sector operators we can be better informed. It is also important that they as NGO’s look for better ways of implementation especially by using technology for connectivity. You can get a lot of real-time data from us operators that are out there to what is actually happening to who is using it, when are they using it, how are they using it, where they are using it.
How do you think the private sector can work with the Non-profit organizations in the health sector?
As I mentioned earlier, there is really a lot of disconnect between the private sector and the nonprofit sector. They literally exist as two separate entities. This ought not to be so. I think that it is important the non profits engage us because decisions at the policy level should be based on feedback at the grassroots.
I am sure they have a better connection with government institutions but when it comes to private sector, there is a disconnect. There are a lot of resources in the private sector and there is a lot of knowledge in business and skills to get results in implementation. This is where my emphasis is, implementation.
Use known and tested operators that can implement. Get them involved in implementing these policies. Even if it is from the private sector, give them some level of recognition that they can also be part of the implementation process.
The government is a big factor in the health operation in the country, what is the level of synergy between the private sector and government?
In terms of relationship between the government and the private sector, to be honest I do not see much synergy. We are merely seen as service providers. Not as generators of wealth and employment opportunities for many people. We are grateful for their regulatory oversight. But beyond regulations and a bit of education and awareness we are not really engaged as two closely working parties.
When it is time for regulators to come and inspect our facilities and properties, they will come once or twice in a year. Sometimes there may be training or two and we will know, but there is so much happening on our own side that they are not involved in. We are business entities. We are the ones involved with all the suppliers, both those that supply the chemicals to the laboratories, drug suppliers, the people that supply the consumables, we are the ones that link up with the clients on a daily basis, all the Business to Business connections are done through us. We are a significant portion of MSMEs. I don’t think the government gets enough feedback from us as enterprises.
What can be done to improve this?
It has to be initiated by the government. They have the authority and the recognition. If the government says we should come for a meeting, more people than not would attend because we respect the government for who they are. But if we are not invited, if our advice is not requested, we cannot do much. We are running on loans from banks, we are running on funds from investors, we are operating in an environment where we have to supply our own light, water and security, so we just have to get up and get doing.
