Private sector key to health system reforms — ANPMP

•Says it delivers care to 70% of Nigerians without support or strikes

By Chioma Obinna

Private healthcare providers in Lagos have urged the government to strengthen and formally recognise the role of the private sector in building a resilient health system, warning that continued neglect threatens to deepen Nigeria’s healthcare and economic crises.

The practitioners under the auspices of the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP) ahead of its upcoming ANPMP Annual Scientific Conference themed “Building Resilient Private Health Systems in Lagos State: A Driver of Public Private Collaboration, Economic Stability and Good Governance, said its members have quietly sustained healthcare delivery for decades despite poor infrastructure, rising energy costs, insecurity, and the mass exodus of medical personnel.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos, the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners, ANPMP, Dr. Jonathan Esegine, said: “We have put in so much in organising this conference due to the legally unrecognised role of private healthcare providers. For 104 years, our Association has been the gateway to grassroots healthcare because we are ever available and accessible.”

“This year’s conference, themed “Building Resilient Private Health Systems in Lagos State: A Driver of Public Private Collaboration, Economic Stability and Good Governance billed to hold on September 10th through 11th, 2025, in Lagos promises two days of master classes, panel discussions, and sessions on sub themes such as technology’s role in quality assurance, economic pressures on healthcare services, and policy impact across governance tiers,”  he stated.

Esegine emphasised the conference’s community focus, noting a free glaucoma eye screening for all delegates, an initiative reflecting the conference’s public health commitment.

He stressed that private doctors remain the first point of call for Nigerians, often treating patients who arrive without money and working in life-threatening conditions.

“Energy costs alone take about 40 per cent of our health expenditure. Yet we cannot transfer these costs to patients, especially in emergencies.

“We enter the streets at night, not caring for our own safety but for our patients’. Still, when things go wrong, we are the first to be vilified,” he said.

The doctors said the government failed to create an enabling environment to retain healthcare workers, noting that nurses and doctors are leaving in droves while those left behind struggle under harsh conditions.

The Chairman, who said this year’s conference will be different, said Nigeria is not short of ideas but of implementation.”

We don’t go on strike, so we lack coercive power. All we can do is keep speaking, with the hope that the government will someday act,” he added.

Also speaking, the Chairman Local Organizing Committee, Dr. Tunde Akintade, called for government subsidies to support private healthcare the way it once supported manufacturers.

“Private doctors provide care to over 70 per cent of Nigerians, yet we get little or no support. During COVID-19, we turned to telemedicine, but government has not invested in subsidised health technology.

The same way SIM cards dropped from N32,000 to almost free through subsidy, health technology can be made accessible if the government partners with us,” he said.

The doctors also criticised the current structure of Nigeria’s health insurance, warning that combining the roles of regulator and fund administrator undermines transparency and erodes trust.

They urged Lagos State and the Federal Government to provide tax relief for private practitioners, offer energy support to reduce crippling costs, guarantee security for healthcare workers, and reform health insurance to ensure fairness and accountability.

The practitioners warned that without these interventions, Nigeria cannot build a stable economy. “Without a healthy population, there can be no sustainable economic growth,” they stated.

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