MAY PRIME PARAGON: PHARM ESTELLE MBADIWE

Estelle Onyekachi Mbadiwe (MPharm, MSc) is an industrious, passionate and vibrant woman. A Pharmacist by discipline with a Master’s degree in Health Policy, Planning and Financing, she is the co-founder of Ducit Blue Solutions and Ducit Blue Foundation. With a passion for health communication, advocacy, quality service delivery and patient safety, leadership and project management in healthcare, a flair for adventure, a strong value system, a positive can-do attitude and over 10 years experience in the private and public sectors, both locally and internationally, she has been able to change the narrative for pharmacists in varying capacities such as being the erstwhile Senior Special Assistant (SSA), Health Services to erstwhile Imo State Governor, Governor Emeka Ihedioha, Country Coordinator -Global Antimicrobial Resistance Partnership, Member of The Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Independent Consultant -International Finance Corporation (IFC) – Pharmaceutical Policy Development Role, to mention but a few. YPs can connect with her on these platforms—
LinkedIn: Estelle Onyekachi Mbadiwe
Twitter: @Onyi_Estelle
Enjoy!

YPG Lagos: Can you briefly describe yourself and what you do?
Pharm Mbadiwe: My name is Estelle Onyekachi Mbadiwe. I am a pharmacist with an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing. I provide strategic oversight as the founding partner of Ducit Blue Solutions and the NGO arm, Ducit Blue Foundation. My values are integrity, empathy, collaboration and bringing the best out of people. I am very passionate and dedicated to everything I put my mind to.

YPG Lagos: What drives you as a person? What does Estelle do on waking up in the morning or to at least stay the course?
Pharm Mbadiwe: My drive is in God and fulfilling the divine goal of my life. I am also driven by my passion to improve the quality of the health sector in Nigeria and the ultimate belief that we have all that is required for a paradigm shift.

YPG Lagos: What is the story behind Ducit Blue Solutions?
Pharm Mbadiwe: Ducit Blue Solutions was borne out of my conviction to improve the quality of the health sector. Ducit means ‘Lead’ in Latin. Blue has biblical meaning around healing and truth. Hence, it is a health care consultancy with the vision to lead in providing solutions for improving the quality and safety of the health sector with integrity.

YPG Lagos: Was pharmacy the main course or a side dish? Do tell why?
Pharm Mbadiwe: I originally applied to study pharmacology and management but due to an unfortunate incident, I didn’t get one of my required grades, so I made the tough decision to re-sit the examination instead of choosing a different course. This led me to applying straight for pharmacy.

YPG Lagos: What’s your take on mentorship, Important or ‘nah’? Who were your influences?
Pharm Mbadiwe: I believe we should all have mentors and people we look to for guidance. This can be directly or from afar. However, I believe mentees should be more proactive and do more research on what they need from a mentor, rather than just expecting to be spoon-fed.

YPG Lagos: What other dopamine-boosting interests help stake the edge of work?
Pharm Mbadiwe: Exercise is key for that dopamine boost and I love extreme workouts. I have also done some crazy hikes but felt elated after getting through them. I am a foodie and enjoy meeting new people, travelling and learning about other cultures. I hope to add to the states I’ve visited in Nigeria, as well as other countries.

YPG Lagos: Worst and best career decisions? What have you learned from them? How have they shaped you to become the woman you are today?
Pharm Mbadiwe: This is a difficult one to summarise. I would summarise this by saying that your career is not a race, don’t do things just because other people are doing it. Do your research, explore various opportunities during school and beyond, as you may be surprised that an area you have no interest in may be your strength. One of the best career decisions was to do an MSc in health policy, planning and finance. I was the only pharmacist on that course and my colleagues thought I was crazy. It made me explore the various opportunities a diverse career as a pharmacist can take and I ended up getting a few colleagues to do the programme. I have learnt from every experience and they have gotten me to where I am today. I don’t think I would have chosen differently, as I won’t be where I am today. However, I would have liked to explore my passion for mental health pharmacy, which I enjoyed during my clinical pharmacy rotations.

YPG Lagos: Life after school can be a huge challenge; what advice do you have for young pharmacists especially those still in training, on how to prepare for it and thrive?
Pharm Mbadiwe: I think the first thing is to believe in yourself and know that you are able to achieve anything you set your mind to. I would advise you work hard and diligently give 100% to everything you do and never cut corners even if others do. Explore various opportunities and make sure you hone your research skills.

YPG Lagos:­ I am sure you’ve had rewarding moments in the course of your career, do talk about some of your notable achievements.
Pharm Mbadiwe: I have had many ‘pinch myself moment’ in my career, sitting at tables with global health leaders both nationally and globally, making key policy decisions and I thank God for those opportunities. One proud moment I had was as the Senior Special Assistant to the Imo state governor, Rt. Honourable Emeka Ihedioha. Although it was short lived, I had the opportunity to make a difference in the healthcare delivery agenda in the state. It also gave me hope that with the right leadership, meritocracy and integrity, we can make a difference in Nigeria. I also found out it was unusual for a pharmacist to have that position so was it was a good opportunity to change the narrative.

YPG Lagos: As the Senior Special Assistant on Health to the Imo State Governor, what did the role entail and how did it feel, being in those shoes?
Pharm Mbadiwe: The role entailed providing strategic oversight for ensuring improvements in the health sector in line with the vision of the state. I was also in the technical transition committee of the governor, so I had an opportunity to work with other stakeholders towards rebuilding the state. I went into the role after I mapped out the sectors and identified short, medium and long term goals. It was an honour to serve Imolites and it made me understand leadership and governance from the other side. I have worked with the government at the national and state level, but that role was the first time I was working for the government. It had its challenges but it was a huge opportunity to change the status quo and impact lives.

YPG Lagos: If you could have breakfast with one person you admire, who would that be? and what would you discuss?

Pharm Mbadiwe: In Nigeria, Buhari. I would really like to get his insight on his value system for running the country and also his view on achieving health coverage and quality health sector. Outside Nigeria, I would like to sit with Paul Kagame (President of Rwanda) and Nana Akufo-­Addo (President of Ghana). I like what they are doing to change the narrative in their country and I would like to learn more. This is because I believe a United Africa is the goal.

YPG Lagos: Following your work, I see you have engaged in various projects to develop strategies to improve patient safety and deliver quality in healthcare services and systems, locally and internationally. As pharmacists, patient safety is a key impression from our training, what roadblocks have you encountered and how would you suggest we tackle them?
Pharm Mbadiwe: I have experienced roadblocks in my role as a pharmacist in the UK and in Nigeria including the recognition of our role beyond being dispensers. I believe we must ensure we all take responsibility on how we portray our roles and identify the opportunities in the roadblocks. We have to also ensure that we constantly project value so can we sit at the tables where decisions are made.

YPG Lagos: There are very few public health concerns of greater importance than Antimicrobial Resistance(AMR). As the Country Coordinator for the Global Antibiotics Resistance Partnership (GARP-­Nigeria) project, which supported the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and tripartite partners across Health, Agriculture and Environment to develop a One-­Health Situation Analysis & National Action Plan for combating Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in line with the WHO global action plan, what are the interventions in place?
Pharm Mbadiwe: Antimicrobial resistance is projected to result in 10 million deaths annually by 2050. This is quite significant as it hampers our ability to deliver modern medicine as we know it.There are 5-­focus areas namely, awareness creation(both public and one-­health professionals), surveillance, infection prevention and control, antimicrobial stewardship and rational use and finally research & development. At Ducit Blue Solutions, we are working on various strategies for implementation in line with the national implementation plan. However, there is need to acknowledge the global pandemic of COVID-­19 which has changed the narrative of health and healthcare delivery. It is important to note that it also has significant impacts on AMR and further highlights the need for building collaborations, local, regional and international capacity to address our health system challenges.

YPG Lagos: From a public health standpoint, how would you evaluate the measures that have been put in place to combat AMR in Nigeria with respect to implementation?
Pharm Mbadiwe: We have made significant strides but I believe more can be done and we need all hands on deck. We also need to identify more champions to help drive the agenda, locally, regionally and internationally. We need to identify the experts across the one-­health to shift from silos and improve coordination.

YPG Lagos: Lastly, if we were to open the remaining yet untold chapters of Estelle Mbadiwe’s story, what will we find?
Pharm Mbadiwe: The next chapters are very exciting and amongst others, I look forward to Ducit Blue Solutions and foundation being the leaders in delivering the change in the health care space nationally and globally. I also want to develop our goals of identifying and training people to harness their potential towards individual and national improvements. I’m excited to meet more people with the same vision to go on this profound journey together. Thank you for the opportunity and God bless.

YPG Lagos: Thank you so much for your time, God bless you!

We do hope you have been inspired by Pharm Estelle Mbadiwe. We look forward to seeing you take action. This interview was conducted by Oluwatobi Ojo, a member of the Editorial Committee, PSN-YPG, Lagos Chapter. Keep thriving!