The federal government is set to host a national stakeholders’ dialogue to address the challenges of huge energy costs and lack of power being faced by federal tertiary health institutions.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, announced this on Friday in Abuja during a media conference, where he also inaugurated a committee to plan and prepare for the dialogue.

Mr Salako said such a dialogue has become necessary owing to the deficits in electricity provision and huge energy costs.

He said the federal government had sought to address the challenges through various initiatives such as a 50 per cent electricity subsidy for public hospitals and the provision of solar power mini-grids in selected hospitals.

“These initiatives have, however, not been able to substantially address the challenges; thus, the need for an urgent rethinking of our traditional models of power generation and supply to hospitals.

“Indeed, the current situation requires a collaborative whole-of-government approach as we work across sectors to resolve many challenging issues that are beyond the purview of the health sector,” the minister said.

Mr Salako added that some instances of alternative energy solutions were being deployed in certain health institutions nationwide.

However, he pointed out that these efforts were neither integrated nor guided by a holistic framework, operational guidelines, or an overarching policy.

He noted that there had also been reports of fire incidents, battery malfunction, theft of critical energy infrastructure, and other operational or maintenance problems in some health institutions that had embarked on alternative energy projects.

The minister added that in all the hospitals he had visited, he instructed the medical directors to explore various public-private partnership (PPP) models and develop business cases.

Additionally, he asked them to draw up strategic plans of engagement that would attract private-sector investments.

Mr Salako said the objectives of the dialogue were to assess the existing power policy environment in relation to the urgent energy needs of tertiary health facilities and other public health facilities in Nigeria.

“This assessment would be based on lessons learned from other low-middle-income countries (LMICs). It is also to gather field experiences of the current power situation and elicit practical recommendations and best practices.

“It would also identify alternative and sustainable solutions by exploring renewable energy options, backup power systems, and energy-efficient solutions to enhance power reliability.

“It would also build consensus on policy and regulatory frameworks, funding mechanisms, and sustainability strategy for efficient power supply to tertiary health facilities and other public health institutions in the country,” the minister said.

Mr Salako said experts from the health and power sectors would attend the proposed national dialogue.

He added that key decisions and recommendations would be documented in the communiqué, and a collaborative plan of action would be developed to monitor the implementation of these decisions.

While inaugurating the dialogue implementation committee, he said it would work with certain terms of reference.

The committee is expected to convene the national stakeholders’ dialogue on power in the health sector and ensure the effective implementation of recommendations.

(NAN)