ACEPHAP Holds 1st Healthcare Innovation Week
Africa Centre of Excellence for Population Health and Policy (ACEPHAP) held maiden edition of Healthcare Innovation Week with the theme: The Imperative of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Driving a Sustainable Future of Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking at the opening ceremony which took place on Tuesday 23rd May, 2023 at Mahmud Tukur Theatre, Old Campus, BUK. The Director of ACEPHAP, Professor Hadiza Galadanci said the Healthcare Innovation Week would witness a series of activities which include Healthcare Entrepreneurship Bootcamp where health personnel would receive training on entrepreneurship as part of the mandate of the centre to build the capacity of professionals.
Professor Galadanci also explained some of the modest achievements recorded by the centre in the areas of postgraduate training, capacity building training, research and collaborations both national and international. She informed the audience that one of the ground breaking achievements recorded by the centre was the presentation of the result of the E-Motive Research on Postpartum Haemorrhage and its publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. She said the research result showed that postpartum haemorrhage among mothers could be reduced by 60 per cent.
She said the research was a collaborative effort with University of Birmingham, World Health Organization (WHO) and other teams from Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa. The result she said was presented at the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference (IMNHC 2023) in Cape Town, South Africa.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services), Professor Mahmoud Umar Sani said the ACEPHAP Healthcare Innovation Week was part of the effort to improve healthcare delivery. He commended ACEPHAP for organizing the event and such other breakthrough recorded by the two centres – ACEPHAP and CDA. He said their exploits in research had contributed towards the University's national and global ranking.
'With the outcome of the E-Motive research result which reduces postpartum haemorrhage by 60 per cent, is actually ground breaking. BUK is proud of ACEPHAP,' he remarked.
Also Speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Hamisu Salihu, the DG/CEO of Kano Independent Research Centre Trust said, it was not news to say that the health sector in Nigeria was facing a lot of challenges of shortages of health personnel, lack of standard health
facilities at most of the nation's hospitals as well as government negligence. He said the effort of ACEPHAP in the area of training health personnel as well as identification of young innovators who would use their ideas to proffer solution to health challenges affecting humanity was highly commendable.
He said entrepreneurship and innovation often played key role in healthcare development, adding that government should seriously intervene to improve healthcare delivery in the country.
The guest lecturer, Mrs. Clare Omotseye, MD/CEO of JNC International, Lagos and the President of the West Africa Private Healthcare Federation delivered a paper on 'The Imperatives of Entrepreneurship and
Innovation in driving a sustainable future of Healthcare in Sub-SaharanAfrica.
Shedding more light on the Healthcare Entrepreneurship Bootcamp training which started on Monday 22nd May and ended on Friday 26th May 2023 at the ACEPHAP Conference Room, Dr. Ahmad Jameel Ismail, Chairman of the event's Local Organizing Committee, said the training which had more than 120 participants was designed on issues ranging from Entrepreneurship Mindset, Entrepreneurship journey, strategy for healthcare innovation, Idea generation, Product development, marketing, soft and hard business skills, business ethics and etiquettes, healthcare innovation, business Formalisation, Business finance and writing a winning Business plan. He said it was the wish of the centre to make the programme an annual event with collaboration with investors and foundations.
