Institute To Host International Conference On Hospital Administration

The Institute of Medical Sciences Africa (IMSA), will this week hold an international conference on hospital management and administration (ICOHMA).

Executive Director of the Institute, Prof. Eugene Okpere said the conference which is slated for10th to 12th of April 2019 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre would bring together Chief Medical Directors of tertiary hospitals, Directors of Hospital Services , leaders, administrators, managers, researchers and students of medical and healthcare systems across the world. Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, will speak at the event.

Briefing newsmen about the conference at the weekend in Abuja, Prof Okpere said the participants who cut across government, non-government and private sector would discuss cutting edge practice of healthcare delivery.The theme of the conference is “Ensuring a healthy Africa through functional healthcare systems: How to change what we must change.”

Prof. Okpere  who is also a former Chief Medical Director of the University of Benin Teaching  Hospital  (UBTH), decried the rate of medical tourism  in the country saying that some people travel for conditions that could be easily managed in Nigeria.

He said there was need for federal and state governments to form strong partnership with the private sector to reverse medical tourism in the country.

Prof Okpere lamented that the primary health care system in Nigeria is in a very poor state, adding that  encouraging private sector participation in the health sector was key to tackling medical tourism.

According to him, tackling the major challenges bedeviling the country’s healthcare system include improving governance and  building the  capacities of healthcare professionals.

He added that awards of  excellence would be presented to six Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), one each, from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria during the conference.

Institute of Medical Sciences Africa (IMSA), is a brainchild of the Nisa Medical Group, and a not-for-profit medical institution committed to investing in human capacity development, building medical professionals and is committed to excellence in learning, teaching, and research. – Daily Trust