By Atoyebi Nike
Dr. Amit Thakker, founder of Avenue Healthcare and a leading voice in health systems reform, has called on African governments to optimize the use of current healthcare budgets before turning to donors or private investors for additional funding.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Primary Health Care Forum (APHCF) held in Abuja, Thakker challenged leaders to “get more health for the money,” citing inefficiency and corruption as key barriers to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) across the continent.
“Before asking for more money, stop the waste, stop the corruption, and use what we already have more efficiently,” he said.
Drawing comparisons with the telecom and banking industries, Thakker argued that healthcare systems can benefit from innovation, competition, and transparency, noting how increased access to qualified professionals helped drive down healthcare costs in countries like India.
He also advocated for digital transformation as a scalable solution to workforce shortages, urging African countries to embrace telemedicine, digital diagnostics, and AI-assisted care.
“Governments must take the lead. Donors and CSR help, but the burden of delivering healthcare lies with elected officials,” Thakker emphasized.
His remarks aligned with the forum’s broader consensus: that Africa must shift from funding dependency to smart, adaptive health systems built on collaboration, policy enforcement, and measurable outcomes.
“Africa doesn’t need more promises,” Thakker concluded. “It needs proof that every naira, every shilling, every franc is delivering results.
