Global Interconnectedness and the Nigerian Health Care Professional.

2 months ago, I was asked by the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain (MANSAG) , to attend its 25th Annual Scientific Meeting, as the special guest speaker.

At the time, I wasn’t quite sure. To begin with, the event coincided with my birthday, which I prefer to spend privately. In addition, the administration of H.E Dr Fayemi ended a week prior, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to fix an event so close to the end of a tenure. Furthermore, having attended a MANSAG event in the past, I knew such invites were often meant for Ministers.

?Following discussions with our new Governor, His Excellency Mr Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji Oyebanji and my wife, both of whom encouraged me to go, I decided to attend.

My speech, based on the topic given to me, “Role of Diaspora Healthcare Professionals in Nigeria Healthcare Delivery post-pandemic”, focused on six key areas of opportunities.

·??????Policy

·??????Curriculum

·??????Capacity Building

·??????Service Offerings

·??????Research

·??????Technology?

Across all six areas, I described, how the diaspora community could contribute to health systems development, by engaging relevant institutions to support policy and curriculum development. I gave examples of the mental health policy and possible tweaks to improve current nursing curriculum.

?With capacity building, I felt there were opportunities for different groups to engage their alma matters, with room for peer-to-peer learnings across sub-specialties. In Ekiti for instance, we have begun exploring the possibilities of having scheduled interactions between our doctors and their overseas counterparts, to review specific cases of interest.

?I gave examples mental health, geriatric care as relatively new vistas of service offerings, where health care workers could lend their expertise to program development and even diagnosis of cases.

With research, I encouraged them to take advantage of COVID-19, and work with counterparts at home to contribute to the body of knowledge about the pandemic. While several reasons abound, mostly conjectures, there’s no seminal paper that provides factual information on why the COVID-19 mortality rates were lower in Sub Saharan African.

As we all know, technology has changed the world, its use moreso, during the pandemic. Leveraging on technology to deliver & share good practices in health care delivery is worth embracing.

One common observation, in my interactions with a number of persons on the sidelines, was the desire to support Nigeria in some form. This is certainly an area, where the Nigeria Health Commissioners' Forum could explore.

In my parting words to them, I tasked them to look beyond the role of self & rather think from the lens of MANSAG, (a 10,000-person body) as a collective, to negotiate, influence & shape issues going forward.

Did I mention, the organisers colluded with my family to surprise me?

Kudos to Dr Raymond Ladele and the amiable MANSAG President Dr Chris Agbo for organising a good outing, the real task, lies ahead.