IPNews-Monrovia: Launch of the Healthcare Federation of Liberia to Unify the Private Health Sector in Liberia

• The Healthcare Federation of Liberia (HFL) is set to launch on 20 January 2020.
• The Federation will be the national branch of the West Africa Private Healthcare Federation and therefore will be represented at the Africa Healthcare Federation.
• HFL will also be the official private sector counterpart to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare .
• HFL’s overarching aim is to improve access to high quality healthcare by creating an enabling and collaborative environment amongst businesses and regulators within the health sector.

The Healthcare Federation of Liberia, today announces the official launch of the federation, a timely membership body that shall unify the private health sector of Liberia. There is a global growing consensus of the importance of the private sector in poverty reduction and that a business-friendly environment must be in place to allow the private sector to strengthen and grow.

“The private sector provides at least half the care in the country so we need to unite to improve the quality of healthcare in Liberia and collaborate with government to drive the sector forward. The voice of the private sector is much stronger when we work together,” said Dr. Nicole Cooper, the interim chair of HFL. Members of HFL shall benefit from training and networking opportunities and also the potential to unlock opportunities from each other and the public sector that may arise due to better communication streams.

The formation of HFL is the result of a consensus of leading private health sector stakeholders to unify and is backed by a recommendation from the private health sector assessment conducted in 2019 under the Health Policy Plus Project.

Some of the challenges highlighted in the private sector assessment are that there is a need for capacity building within the private sector, private sector strengthening, better referral systems within the health sector as a whole and a need for better communication between the public and private health sector. HFL aims address these challenges by working alongside the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and has been officially recognised as the private sector representative in deliberations with the Ministry. This was officiated in November 2019 through a communique signed by the Minister of Health and Social Services and the interim chair of HFL.

“The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare welcomes the formation of a private sector body that we can regularly engage with to foster public private partnership and better healthcare in Liberia,” said Hon Wilhelmina Jallah, “We are looking forward to engaging with HFL.”

Another advantage is that HFL shall be a member of the West Africa Private Healthcare Federation (Fédération Ouest Africaine du Secteur Privé de la Santé, FOASPS), the regional body for national healthcare federations, and through FOASPS, also a member of Africa Healthcare Federation (AHF), which unifies all the regional healthcare federations. AHF is recognised by the African Union and the World Health Organisation as their private sector engagement partner.

“The launch of HFL is a day to celebrate not only for Liberians but for West Africa as a region because we want to lift the region towards better healthcare for all,” said Clare Omatseye, the President of FOASPS, “we warmly welcome HFL as a member of the regional federation and I am looking forward to engaging with them.”

“AHF would like to congratulate HFL on their formation,” said Dr. Amit N. Thakker, the chair of AHF, “this shall transform the health sector in Liberia as members come together and collaborate on ideas to deal with the issues in the Liberian health sector collectively.”

Notes from the Editor: The launch of HFL is set to take place on 20 January in Monrovia and will bring together the stakeholders from the public and private sector of Liberia and the region. For more information, please call +231(0)555664603 or email info@hfliberia.com.

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