The Federal Government is set to convene a national stakeholders’ dialogue aimed at addressing the high energy costs and inadequate power supply faced by Federal Tertiary Health Institutions.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, made this known on Friday in Abuja during a media conference. During the event, he also inaugurated a committee tasked with planning and preparing for the dialogue.
According to Dr. Salako, the dialogue has become imperative due to the deficits in electricity provision and the substantial cost of energy affecting the country’s tertiary health institutions.
He noted that the Federal Government, through various initiatives such as a 50 per cent electricity subsidy for public hospitals and the provision of solar power mini-grids in selected hospitals, had attempted to tackle these challenges.
“These initiatives have however not been able to substantially address the challenges thus the need for an urgent rethinking of our traditional models of power generation and supply to hospitals.
“Indeed, the current situation requires a collaborative whole-of-government approach as we work across sectors to resolve many challenging issues that are beyond the purview of the health sector,” Dr. Salako stated.
The minister acknowledged that some health institutions had implemented alternative energy solutions. However, he noted that these efforts were often fragmented, lacking a holistic framework, operational guidelines, or an overarching policy to guide their deployment.
He also highlighted operational issues associated with these solutions, citing reports of fire incidents, battery malfunctions, theft of critical energy infrastructure, and other maintenance challenges in some hospitals that had embarked on alternative energy projects.
According to him, these issues underscored the need for a more coordinated and strategic approach to energy solutions within the health sector.
Dr. Salako stressed that it was time to change the current approach and ensure that tertiary health institutions received the necessary support from the power sector.
“We can no longer afford business as usual in the face of mounting energy bills of our hospitals.
“The time has come for all hands to be on deck to relieve our hospitals of the burden of prohibitive cost of power supply which gulps hundreds of millions of Naira monthly.
“This is the time to be creative and innovative as we move to develop and adopt smart energy solutions.
“These solutions will strengthen our health system and empower us to deliver on our core mandate of improving population health outcomes,” he stated.
Dr. Salako revealed that during his visits to various hospitals, he had instructed Medical Directors to explore different Public-Private Partnership models and develop business cases. He urged them to draft strategic engagement plans aimed at attracting private sector investments to enhance the capacity of healthcare facilities in the area of alternative and renewable energy solutions.
He also encouraged all public healthcare institutions to prioritize this approach, recommending that it become a focal point for the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals.
The minister outlined the primary objectives of the dialogue, which include assessing the existing power policy environment concerning the energy needs of tertiary health facilities and other public health institutions in Nigeria.
“This assessment would be based on lessons learned from other low-middle-income countries (LMICs).
“It is also to gather field experiences of the current power situation and elicit practical recommendations and best practices.
“It would also identify alternative and sustainable solutions by exploring renewable energy options, backup power systems, and energy-efficient solutions to enhance power reliability.
“Others are to agree on mechanisms to strengthen public-private partnerships for electricity supply to public health institutions in the country and develop a collaborative action plan for monitoring implementation of key agreements of the national dialogue.
“It would also build consensus on policy and regulatory frameworks, funding mechanisms, and sustainability strategy for efficient power supply to tertiary health facilities and other public health institutions in the country,” Dr. Salako explained.
While inaugurating the dialogue implementation committee, Dr. Salako stated that the committee would have specific terms of reference, including convening the national stakeholders’ dialogue on power in the health sector and ensuring the effective implementation of recommendations from it.
The committee is also tasked with mobilising resources and attracting investments for the sustainable electrification of public healthcare facilities, employing a whole-of-government approach.
The minister added that the proposed national dialogue would bring together experts from both the health and power sectors. Key decisions and recommendations from the dialogue would be documented in a communiqué, followed by the development of a Collaborative Plan of Action to monitor the implementation of these decisions.