Muhammad Ali Pate
Encyclopedia
Dr Muhammad Ali Pate is Minister for State for Health in Nigeria. His appointment in July 2011 follows his success as the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in Abuja
, Nigeria
. He also serves on the agenda committee of the World Economic Forum
. Dr Pate is an American Board-Certified MD in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, with an MBA (Health Sector Concentration) from Duke University USA. He also has a Masters in Health System Management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
, UK. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Global Health of the Duke University
Global Health Institute. He is also a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Vaccination
and Humanitarian Emergencies at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva
.
in Washington DC and held several senior positions including Senior Health Specialist and Human Development Sector Coordinator for the East Asia/Pacific Region and Senior Health Specialist for the African Region.
While at the World Bank, a major project lead by Dr Pate was the far-reaching health sector reform programmes in Africa, East Asia and other regions of the World Bank. Of note is his initiation of landmark Public Private Partnership to replace a National Referral Hospital in Lesotho, Africa.
In Nigeria the wild poliovirus WPV is mainly prevalent in the north of the country. In June 2009 Dr Pate instigated a policy of engaging respected traditional rulers in the north under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto to help deliver the immunisation programme message, along with the development of an effective primary health care system which had failed in the previous decade. The cases of WPV reduced from 803 at the end of 2008 to only 11 cases in 2010.
Dr Pate identified the key failings in the healthcare system as structural constraint, fiscal decentralization, mismatched burden of disease and low quality spending, poor and inequitable intermediate and long-term health outcomes, multiplicity of vertical initiatives, fragmented, inefficient service delivery, dilapidated health infrastructure, lack of skilled manpower in the frontlines; basic drugs and supplies and inadequate financial protection.
He has implemented innovative strategies including the training of middle level management for primary health care and collaboration with the private sector through public private partnerships. He has facilitated the introduction of new vaccines to improve routine immunisation; and engaged with the governors and local government agencies to ensure improvements in Primary Health Care. Furthermore, Dr Pate pushed the agenda for decentralisation and integration and has improved the quality and quantity of human resources at the frontlines.
The scheme has mobilised a total of 4000 midwives covered 1,000 PHC facilities and 400 general hospitals in the last 12 months. The MSS is also a vehicle for development of mHealth. Dedicated mobile phones are provided to all participating PHCs in the scheme, while fixed post internet telephony and video conference facilities have been deployed to a subset of facilities in the scheme.
Pate M.A. in: Cochi, Stephen L, Walter R.Dowdle, editors. Disease Eradication in the 21st Cewntury: Implications for Global Health. Strungmann Forum Report vol 7. Cambride 2011, MA:MIT Press.
Wassilak S., Pate M.A., Wannemuehler K., et al: Outbreak of Type 2 Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus in Nigeria: Emergence and Widespread Circulation in an under-immunised population. J Infectious Deseases 2011. 203 (7).
Jenkins H.E. Aylward B.R., Pate M.A. et al: Implications of a Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus in Nigeria. New England Journal of Medicine 362. June 24, 2010.
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. He also serves on the agenda committee of the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
. Dr Pate is an American Board-Certified MD in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, with an MBA (Health Sector Concentration) from Duke University USA. He also has a Masters in Health System Management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a constituent college of the federal University of London, specialising in public health and tropical medicine...
, UK. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Global Health of the Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
Global Health Institute. He is also a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Vaccination
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
and Humanitarian Emergencies at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
Early career
Prior to his appointment to the NPHCDA in 2008, Dr Pate had an extensive career spanning over 10 years at the World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
in Washington DC and held several senior positions including Senior Health Specialist and Human Development Sector Coordinator for the East Asia/Pacific Region and Senior Health Specialist for the African Region.
While at the World Bank, a major project lead by Dr Pate was the far-reaching health sector reform programmes in Africa, East Asia and other regions of the World Bank. Of note is his initiation of landmark Public Private Partnership to replace a National Referral Hospital in Lesotho, Africa.
NPHCDA
Dr Pate was appointed to run the NPHCDA at the peak of the polio epidemic crisis in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the four PAIN countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria – where polio still exists and can thus be transmitted to other countries. Poliomyelities can be prevented through multiple immunisation with the polio vaccine. Receiving a minimum of four doses of the vaccine almost certainly provides lifelong immunity in children.In Nigeria the wild poliovirus WPV is mainly prevalent in the north of the country. In June 2009 Dr Pate instigated a policy of engaging respected traditional rulers in the north under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto to help deliver the immunisation programme message, along with the development of an effective primary health care system which had failed in the previous decade. The cases of WPV reduced from 803 at the end of 2008 to only 11 cases in 2010.
Primary Health Care Implementation in Nigeria
Dr Pate led the development of a transformation agenda for the NPHCDA, dealing with outstanding issues following its merger with the old NPI (National Programme on Immunisation). This involved core diagnostics, systems development and human resources capacity development within the Agency.Dr Pate identified the key failings in the healthcare system as structural constraint, fiscal decentralization, mismatched burden of disease and low quality spending, poor and inequitable intermediate and long-term health outcomes, multiplicity of vertical initiatives, fragmented, inefficient service delivery, dilapidated health infrastructure, lack of skilled manpower in the frontlines; basic drugs and supplies and inadequate financial protection.
He has implemented innovative strategies including the training of middle level management for primary health care and collaboration with the private sector through public private partnerships. He has facilitated the introduction of new vaccines to improve routine immunisation; and engaged with the governors and local government agencies to ensure improvements in Primary Health Care. Furthermore, Dr Pate pushed the agenda for decentralisation and integration and has improved the quality and quantity of human resources at the frontlines.
Midwives Service Scheme
Dr Pate pioneered the implementation of a national Midwives’ Service Scheme (MSS) to address the high maternal and child morbidity and mortality. The scheme is designed to mobilise midwives to selected primary health care facilities in rural communities to facilitate increase in skilled birth attendance and delivery of services. The MSS utilises a cluster model of hub and spoke arrangement in which four selected primary health care facilities with capacity to provide Basic Essential Obstetric Care (BEOC) are clustered around a General Hospital with the capacity to provide Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEOC) and which serves as a referral facility.The scheme has mobilised a total of 4000 midwives covered 1,000 PHC facilities and 400 general hospitals in the last 12 months. The MSS is also a vehicle for development of mHealth. Dedicated mobile phones are provided to all participating PHCs in the scheme, while fixed post internet telephony and video conference facilities have been deployed to a subset of facilities in the scheme.
Recent Publications
Gupta N., Maliqi B., Franca A., Nyonator F., Pate M.A. Sanders D., et al, Human resources for maternal, newborn and child health: from measurement planning to performance for improved health outcomes. Human Resources for Health 2011, 9.16.Pate M.A. in: Cochi, Stephen L, Walter R.Dowdle, editors. Disease Eradication in the 21st Cewntury: Implications for Global Health. Strungmann Forum Report vol 7. Cambride 2011, MA:MIT Press.
Wassilak S., Pate M.A., Wannemuehler K., et al: Outbreak of Type 2 Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus in Nigeria: Emergence and Widespread Circulation in an under-immunised population. J Infectious Deseases 2011. 203 (7).
Jenkins H.E. Aylward B.R., Pate M.A. et al: Implications of a Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus in Nigeria. New England Journal of Medicine 362. June 24, 2010.