Dr. Olijade Adebola is a National Digital Health Consultant impart with the WHO Nigeria.
An issue that is constantly having to be dealt with is the blackouts the clinics face. The clinics face plenty of downtime which hurts the care they provide and damages the drugs stored.
With a Focused Sun microgrid operating locally, it can power clinics, and offer the opportunity to share with others. This can be guaranteed by integrating schools and other communities.
With a Focused Sun microgrid operating locally, it can power clinics, and offer the opportunity to share with others. This can be guaranteed by integrating schools and other communities.
The Nigerian Medical Community Dr. Olajide Joseph Adebola, Leader in Global eHealth
Interviewers at Focused Sun got in touch with Dr. Olajide Joseph Adebola through our well-connected CEO, Rene Francis. Dr. Adebola serves as the Chief Technology Officer and Partner at Home Plus Medicare Services Limited, a telemedicine and eHealth company. He's not only a Health Systems & Business Leader but also holds esteemed positions in various professional organizations, showcasing his expertise in telecommunication technology (O'Grady, 2020). Adebola holds a key role in the Health Informatics group ISO/TC215. He's the Chair of the Technical & National Mirror Committee on ISO/TC215. With expertise in telemedicine and health ICT programs, he guides the Nigerian Medical Community, overseeing projects and the Society for Telemedicine and eHealth in Nigeria as its Founder & President. The Society and its co-founders support the expansion of telemedicine and eHealth programs in Nigeria. They advocate for these technologies in both national and international health organizations and actively share knowledge. As the leader of the National Mirror Committee ISOTC215 - Health Informatics at the Standards Organization of Nigeria, Dr. Adebola's team is currently working on adopting 33 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standards. They are also updating Technical Reports and Specifications for digital health standards in Nigeria. This project started in April 2019 and showcases Dr. Adebola's skills in digital health, eHealth consultancy, project planning, implementation, and building workforce capacity. O'Grady, V. (2020, March 12). Nigeria still top of african mobile stats. Developing Telecoms. https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/wireless-networks/9323-nigeria-still-top-of-african-mobile-stats.html. 1. What technical requirements do the Nigerian medical community have? (Energy, Power, Heat, etc) In the Nigerian community, rural clinics follow a three-tiered medical care system: National, State, and Local levels. The first point of contact is the National Health System, with specialty hospitals led by medical doctors. District hospitals, managed by state governments, come next. Local government authorities oversee primary care, operated through the State Primary Health Care Board. Altogether, Nigeria has around 74 local governments with approximately 10,000 primary health care centers. These primary health care centers require a minimum amount of electricity to stay operational. Due to limited infrastructure in Nigeria, many remote clinics resort to using generators and equipment to provide power. These clinics cover their running costs through independent power sources, the national grid, or other institutions. Alongside the high expenses, they also contend with frequent blackouts. Beyond these power issues, the Nigerian medical community encounters various physical challenges. The necessary infrastructure construction can range from $100,000 to $300,000, posing a significant hurdle. The absence of dependable electricity remains a major obstacle for these clinics. What is the process for setting up a Nigerian medical clinic? To establish a medical clinic in Nigeria, you begin by obtaining both individual and facility medical licenses. Next, you specify the clinic's intended community purpose. Afterward, you proceed with national registration. The site undergoes inspection by the country, leading to license approval. The cost and size of the licensed facility depend on the number of beds, which is also linked to the clinic's staff size. A missing aspect is that the government doesn't currently have energy source requirements. If such requirements existed, advocacy groups would emerge. The government would enforce these rules once more professionals show interest in driving change.) 2. What are problems to solve in providing medical services where it is needed most? Producing hospital supplies locally and within the country is limited. This is because of a weak supply chain that requires strengthening. Certain places in Nigeria also encounter issues with pharmaceuticals and approval for generic drugs. Improving medicine access is essential. To achieve this, the medical field requires more energy for production and importing of drugs. Additional concerns include mental health and obstetrics. The Nigerian medical community deals with elevated maternal mortality rates. This issue arises when pregnant women lack access to skilled attendants such as Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Receiving varying levels of care poses a challenge across Nigeria. 3. How much electricity, heat, power, clean water, and cooling do Nigerian clinics use? The electricity required depends on care, facilities, and services offered. It's based on the type of care, facility, and services provided by clinics. Manufacturing hospital supplies also plays a role. Many of these supplies are disposable now, but their production process is delicate. Clean water is now more vital due to the pandemic. People require it for proper sanitation, washing hands, laundry, surface cleaning, and overall hygiene. For these clinics, air conditioning isn't crucial. Keeping the pharmacy operational efficiently is essential. Proper storage with cooling is necessary to prevent medicines from spoiling. 4. What opportunities do you see with renewable energy in the medical community? In rural areas? At what capacity? Clinics Renewable energy offers significant clinical opportunities in Nigeria. Its impact on power supplies will be substantial, ensuring consistent energy for clinics and avoiding issues like blackouts. Local microgrids, like Focused Sun's, can power clinics and be shared with schools and communities, enhancing reliability. Also, Nigeria is allowed to import only 20% of energy due to Foreign Exchange Market restrictions, pushing for local energy production that could increase employment. Nigeria's energy sector planning needs improvement, especially linking the national grid to paying industries. Dr. Adebola identifies unique Nigerian challenges during his visits to the United States, comparing healthcare systems and recognizing where distinct solutions are required. While American clinics vary, they are often funded to enhance services, attracting more patients. In Nigeria, clinics in industrial areas follow a similar model, providing better care for private investors. This approach considers production costs, including energy, for resource allocation in a 24-hour day. Dr. Adebola and his organizations are researching baseline metrics to optimize healthcare delivery cost-effectively. This study will guide the national roadmap for care across levels, informing which procedures are local, how State services compare, and what National guidelines should be set. The national roadmap will answer these questions. Funding Are there grant opportunities for medical organizations to explore? Local funding mirrors what's seen in industrial areas. The World Bank provides long-term loans for renewable energy, including rural projects in social and health sectors. The Nigerian Energy Commission also engages in federal-level renewable energy research, exploring local materials for community projects, though it's limited locally.Do medical community leaders have access to grants to meet clinic needs? Funds exist for rural telephony's digital economy, which requires a power supply. Renewable energy infrastructure for digital health tools can be funded this way. What funding sources support the medical community and their projects? International funding from sectors beyond healthcare can apply to medical projects. The World Bank and other international entities might have relevant programs. The “Basic Health Care Provision Act” of 2014 allocates 1% of national revenue to Nigeria's “basic health care package,” focusing on primary care for the vulnerable. The 2014 Act includes the National Primary Healthcare Development Gateway and the agency gateway. Primary healthcare centers have their administration, ensuring funds aren't misused. Each state has its primary healthcare board, and funds flow through the local and regional levels, following a performance-based financing model. A breakdown of Nigerian government funds allocation reveals that 45% of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund supports the National Primary Healthcare. The NHIS pays healthcare providers, and as more people participate, the program's effectiveness grows. The remaining 5% is reserved for public emergencies, divided between the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Dept of Hospital Services (DHS) for the National Emergency Medical Services (NEMS). This contingency fund aids pandemics and epidemics management, including emergency services and ambulatory care. 5. What issues do you face with electricity? Downtime if any? What temporary solutions did you use? How was it solved? A persistent problem faced by clinics is frequent blackouts. These disruptions harm patient care and jeopardize stored medications. Even for this meeting, we're relying on a generator, a common solution. Generators are commonplace since many homes and businesses operate on them. While LAN and phone networks exist, carrier costs are reduced.To tackle power outages, hospitals acquire generators and regulate their usage during emergencies. They implement a system called "lights out time" and "lights on time" to run the hospital efficiently without added expenses. To reduce blackouts, the supply chain should shift from relying on generator sales and repairs. The expertise in the power industry is valuable as the transition is made from generators to renewable energy sources. Local factories producing renewable energy and medical supplies could provide solutions for these challenges. 6. How is the cost of renewable energy viewed in your industry of the Nigerian medical community and its constituents? In healthcare, starting up can be expensive, especially for items like solar panels. Their cost depends on power needs, battery expenses, and electricity usage. Compared to diesel generators, running costs can appear cheaper. Energy prices are linked to oil and diesel costs, which can raise energy expenses. When equipment can't run due to power shortage, renewable energy costs seem more reasonable. Even if renewable energy is cost-effective, it's not always accessible. When basic needs like lighting and air conditioning can't be powered by renewables, traditional methods are used, adding variable costs. When energy-related services can't be billed, they might have less control over more profitable services. In cities with affordable electricity rates, rural communities bear the cost burden due to urban economics' supply and demand dynamics influencing them. 7. What barriers are there when adopting renewable energy? Last question for this interview. Setting the stage for change. Let's make it clearer and easier to understand. Looking from the National Sector perspective, we need to make energy provision better. There are different roles: the power generation company creates electricity, the transmission company moves it, and the distribution company spreads it through the community. Interestingly, discos (distribution companies) get the electricity first and decide who else gets it. This seems to work, given that the town's center is a dance hall, and it gets priority power along with buildings like clinics and hospitals. While this might be entertaining, it shows we need rules for electricity, prices, and a push to bring power to life-saving places before discos. The real issue is transmission and distribution, where profit-focused businesses like discos buy power, while rural hospitals compete for the same energy. Generating power and warmth locally, and making medical supplies in the same place as a solar microgrid, starts to fix the problems of electricity access and costs. If access to the power grid brings money to the local economy, fairness grows, letting energy supply match local community needs. This is unlike urban areas where prices are high due to a central distribution system. Producing hospital supplies within the country has limits due to a weak supply chain. Some places in Nigeria face problems with pharmaceuticals and drug approvals. Getting better access to medicine is really important. To make this happen, the medical field needs more energy to produce and import drugs. There are also other concerns like mental health and obstetrics. The Nigerian medical community struggles with high maternal mortality rates. This happens when pregnant women don't have access to skilled attendants like Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Unequal levels of care create challenges all across Nigeria. |