Leading global pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer has embarked on a campaign to team up with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to improve access to affordable and effective healthcare delivery in Ghana.

In furtherance of this commendable objective, Pfizer, on September 27, 2023, partnered with IQVIA to organize an engagement forum dubbed the "Accra Prayer Summit" to bring together stakeholders in the healthcare sector in Ghana and Nigeria. The purpose of the summit was to facilitate discussions and explore strategies to enhance healthcare accessibility.

Speaking at the conference, Alhaji Hafiz Adam, Chief Director of NHIA Ghana indicated the excitement of his outfit with move by Pfizer, stressing that the NHIA will continue to partner with agencies to facilitate effective healthcare provision for Ghana.

He reaffirmed the commitment of his outfit to creating the necessary environment and conditions for the basic healthcare needs of Ghanaians to be met.

Alhaji Hafiz Adam also highlighted the NHIA's commitment to becoming a model of sustainable and equitable social health insurance in Africa.

The NHIA aims to provide financial risk protection for quality basic healthcare services to all residents in Ghana.

“We are proud of this bold partnership, and it is my hope that, through this collaboration, we will help ease the pain and improve the lives of NHIA enrollees in our country. We are committed to be a model of sustainable, progressive and equitable social health insurance scheme in Africa and beyond as we provide financial risk protection against the cost of quality basic health care for all residents in Ghana, and to delight our subscribers and stakeholders with an enthusiastic, motivated and empathetic professionalism with all stakeholders,” he said.

Olayinka Subair, Cluster Lead for West Africa, Pfizer, commented, “To identify the gaps in the patient journey and address them, we partner with governments across West Africa as well as global health organizations in the health space. We are driving health equity through affordability programs for those who cannot afford them, such as subscription models and flexible payment options.

"We have already made enormous progress towards putting affordability at the heart of our business as decades of experience working across West Africa have built our strong understanding of patient needs and know that barriers to access aren't just about the price of treatments but occur throughout the patient journey.”

Prof. Mohammed Sambo, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NHIA Nigeria, said “National Health Insurance Authority is well positioned to accelerate access with the recent signing of the NHIA act which has expanded coverage for 83 million vulnerable Nigerians.

"The agency will continue to bring affordable and quality healthcare to all Nigerians, with the implementation of its ten-year strategic plan which is presently on course. As a health insurance regulator, we are glad to work with Pfizer, the global drug giant to assiduously achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria.”

Naim Hage, IQVIA Director East Africa & English-speaking West Africa said, “IQVIA as an organization that is inspired to advance health outcomes through collaboration, with the hope of overcoming some of the biggest challenges facing global health is passionate about continuously pushing to do more to advance public health efforts and improve health for all."

“This is driving our collaboration with Pfizer as we are harnessing our resources and expertise to identify, understand, and address unmet public health needs through this knowledge exchange on payer initiatives in Ghana and Nigeria to improve patients’ access to cost-effective care.”

The efforts of Pfizer and IQVIA were not limited to only the forum as they engaged and supported the Ministry of Health for the launch of the ‘Support to Evidence-informed Priority Setting in Ghana (StEPS-Gh)” project where Ghana’s Essential Health Services Package was officially launched.

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Ghana was established under the National Health Insurance Act 2003, Act 650, as a body to secure the implementation of a national health insurance policy that ensures access to basic healthcare services to all residents for the purposes of implementing, operating and managing the National Health Insurance Scheme.

KPE