By Our Reporter
A Nigerian-born medical experts, Dr. Lola Adeyemi, has been named one of the best and brightest students at Executive MBA of the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.
Dr. Lola who is currently the Special Adviser on Research and Innovation to the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, disclosed that the MBA has sharpened her leadership strategy and system thinking, and that it is an opportunity for her to contribute to policy formulation and measure impact for Nigeria.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, she noted that for Nigeria’s healthcare system to be better and perform optimally, the country needs a stronger Primary Health Care (PHC) where everybody has the right to access care.
She applauded the efforts of the Federal Government for achieving much in the health sector, noting that: “We need to focus on getting the basics right which will take us further from where we are today. Strong primary health care is part of what will make Nigeria’s healthcare system better than yesterday, with everybody having the right to care.
“We can’t succeed if healthcare remains a privilege, universal access must be the goal and accountability and innovation that will take us further regarding getting the healthcare right.
“We also need Public Private Partnerships (PPP) using models where the government provides the regulatory backbone while the private sector and the non-public actors innovate service delivery.”
Responding to a question on how cancer burden can be reduced in Nigeria, Dr. Lola said: “Prevention is the most powerful tool that we have. We should scale up screening and diagnostics services, and everyone should have access to screening for cancer; it is cheaper and more affordable compared to caring for one or two people burdened with cancer, which affects their families and their source of livelihoods.
“We need to prioritise prevention and early detection, scaling up screening and diagnostics and research. Promoting research and clinical trials is such an important part of cancer care that a lot of times we don’t realise because we need locally made data and interventions for us to understand our unique cancer patterns in this population and to make that difference that we need for cancer control to succeed.
“And if we can embed cancer control in our universal health care coverage agenda, which we are trying to do now, we will not only save lives but will also reduce the long-term economic and social cost of the disease.”
According to Dr. Lola, the biggest lesson gained during the MBA was “recognising that effective leadership does not require having all the answers or skills myself, but rather understanding my strengths and limitations.”
She stressed that: “My role is to identify and empower others with the right skill sets. Emphasising strategic agility, cross-sector collaboration, and investing in human capital has significantly improved my ability to successfully lead complex international projects and expedite the digital transformation of health research in Nigeria.”
