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EF: Could you elaborate on Sysmex's presence and impact across Africa, how your footprint has evolved, and the milestones you have been through this year?
EO: Sysmex's priority in Africa is to expand our business domain by strengthening existing businesses and creating new ones. Our corporate message is "Together for a better healthcare journey. Our vision is to help improve the quality of life of African people at each stage of their healthcare journey and realize a fulfilling and healthy society by optimizing healthcare and healthcare costs.
EF: Do you have any strategy or initiatives you will implement to drive growth and penetrate the market?
EO: Sysmex has been expanding its African business domain through Direct sales business models, distributor partnerships, and strategic partnerships.
Additionally, we collaborate and have more strategic partnerships with local institutions, increasing our partnerships with NGOs, Ministries of Health, regulators, and universities.
We focus on training and education, establishing the Sysmex Academy, which provides comprehensive training programs to upskill healthcare professionals and ensure effective use of our diagnostic systems. We also provide distributor support through the Sysmex Academy, offering training both in English and French. We provide practical and theoretical knowledge to service engineers, medical doctors, and lab scientists, ensuring our vision of being "together for better healthcare."
We train an average of 1500 healthcare professionals every year in this region. Aim to create a pipeline of skilled professionals who can use our advanced diagnostic tools effectively. We also provide distributor support through the Sysmex Academy, offering training both in English and French, ensuring our vision of "together for better healthcare." We partner with universities such as the University of Ghana and the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, providing practical and theoretical knowledge to biomedical engineers, medical doctors, and lab scientists. Our main aim with this program is to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Our analyzers have been installed in the schools, which will ensure that doctors are familiar with them by the time they get into the field.
EF: How is Sysmex leveraging technology to enhance healthcare accessibility in Africa? What is the importance of Central West Africa to the group?
EO: West and Central Africa has a growing healthcare market, presenting a significant opportunity due to the increasing demand for advanced healthcare solutions. As a result, we focus primarily on addressing unmet needs in the region and filling critical gaps in diagnostic capabilities and healthcare outcomes. For example, in many parts of Africa, people do not have access to necessary tests before undergoing surgery, which can lead to procedural complications such as excessive bleeding or death. Our solution for screening patients for bleeding tendencies helps reduce these risks and ensures safer surgical outcomes.
Last year, we launched a pilot program in Ghana that focused on internal and external quality control in hospitals. This initiative allows hospitals to manage quality control without outsourcing, though it does come with challenges like the need for reliable internet and data protection. Furthermore, we have introduced technology such as support managers to manage and predict equipment breakdowns remotely, ensuring the continuous operation of analysers.
More importantly, Sysmex has built excellent local after sales support structures in Africa to ensure high customer satisfaction. Our objective has always been to eliminate the "instrument cemeteries" seen in many African labs where equipment is installed. Still, it becomes non-functional due to a lack of trained local support. We do not sell analyzers in countries where we cannot provide after-sales support. To address this, we have established an academy to train distributors and healthcare workers, ensuring that analysers are properly maintained and utilized. Going forward, we plan to deepen our public-private partnerships, collaborate with universities, and explore joint ventures to continue addressing healthcare challenges in the region.
EF: What is the Sysmex way, and what does it mean to you? How does this cultural ethos support your operations and goals for Africa?
EO: We strive to stay as close to our customers as possible, understanding their needs and determining how best to support them. We aim to ensure that our customers and patients experience exceptional reliability and peace of mind when using Sysmex products. This commitment to customer satisfaction and quality is what we call the "Sysmex way," where control and peace of mind are guaranteed every time our products are used.
Our primary focus is always on patients. We start by partnering with organizations that enhance disease detection, precise diagnosis and treatment, and continuous patient monitoring.
EF: How are you creating trust and delivering a service beyond the product within your portfolio?
EO: First, in Western Central Africa, our entire team is locally based. We train and equip local talent to support our customers. This ensures a deep understanding of the region's needs and fosters strong relationships with our clients. Secondly, we ensure that healthcare professionals receive standardized training on our technologies, adhering to global standards. We also provide continuous medical education, offering CPD points for their professional development. This training is essential for maintaining high standards and ensuring our technologies are effectively used.
We work closely with regulators to ensure the registration and compliance of our products. Many manufacturers attempt to enter the African market with substandard products, assuming lax regulatory oversight. We educate healthcare professionals and hospitals about legal compliance to combat this issue. We also focus on patient and clinician education, leveraging a local key opinion leaders network to share knowledge and best practices specific to Africa.
For example, in Ghana, Sysmex is part of a separate PPP with the World Food Program and UNDP. Together with NEC and Ajenamoto Foundation, we work on the early detection of anaemia and malnutrition in rural Health. This aligns with the Universal Healthcare approach of the Ghana government and the Ministry of Health.
EF: How can we create awareness of the value of diagnostics?
EO: To raise awareness about the value of diagnostics, we have had to address a fundamental question: Why have hospitals not traditionally valued diagnostics? The answer lies in their unfamiliarity with the business model of diagnostics. Through our educational efforts, we have informed hospital accountants, procurement managers, and CEOs about the cost per patient to reflect the cost of hospital services and ensure sustainability.
Africa is rapidly developing its healthcare systems, with the rise of national and private health insurance. Most of these insurance systems evolved from the DRG system, reimbursing based on the disease rather than breaking down the cost of diagnosis. Our advocacy efforts with the Ministry of Health and National Health Insurance aim to highlight that the price per patient includes hardware, software, consumables, and maintenance.
By educating healthcare providers and advocating for a better understanding of diagnostic costs, we help hospitals manage their budgets more effectively and appreciate the value diagnostics bring to healthcare sustainability.
The second point is how the hospital accounts for the revenues from the lab and in Africa. In many African hospitals, there are typically two main accounts: the General Hospital account and the Pharmacy account, with no separate account for the laboratory. We assist labs in making a case to the hospital administration by demonstrating the revenue generated from the tests they perform, tracking the equipment and reagents received, the number of tests conducted, and the corresponding charges.
Additionally, we educate CFOs and CEOs on the importance of revenue tracking for labs, leading to better budget allocation and financial support. By shifting to a utilization-based payment system, hospitals can prioritize payments for the most frequently used tests, ensuring continuous supply and operation. Understanding and navigating reimbursement systems, national or private health insurance, is crucial, as these often reimburse based on the disease rather than diagnostic costs.
Our advocacy with the Ministry of Health and National Health Insurance focuses on ensuring that the cost per patient, including all associated expenses, is recognized and reimbursed appropriately. These steps—understanding the business model, tracking lab revenues, shifting to utilization-based payments, and navigating insurance systems—are essential for creating a sustainable diagnostic industry and addressing common issues across various markets, highlighting the need for better financial strategies in diagnostics globally.
EF: What are your plans for the upcoming 5 years?
EO: Sysmex will be the reliable diagnostics company in West and Central Africa, providing medical laboratories with quality testing, operational efficiency, and access to innovative diagnostics that ensure public safety and optimal output from hospital systems. Finally, we are prioritizing developing local human resources within Africa to ensure that we can support healthcare professionals and patients effectively.
