Felix Obi is a health systems policy and financing expert with over 15 years of experience in the design and implementation of public health programs and initiatives to advance universal health coverage in Africa.
As a program director and Nigeria country manager at Results for Development, Mr. Obi is a key member of Nigeria Health Care Financing Technical Assistance Project and coordinates R4D’s technical support to the Government of Nigeria on the implementation of the basic health care provision. He is also a member of the demand-side financing project (DSF) team working on the design and implementation of social health insurance programs in the Nigerian states of Kaduna and Niger respectively. Mr. Obi supports Nigeria’s sub-national Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage’s technical collaboratives which are currently provide technical guidance to Nigerian states as they design and roll out initiatives to provide financial risk protection and strengthening of the primary health care system towards achieving UHC in Nigeria. He is also a part of R4D’s team that is supporting the Government of Nigeria to develop a strategic communications plan for UHC.
As a UHC advocate, Mr. Obi is interested in the translation and use of research evidence to inform health policies and programs for improving universal access to quality care in middle and low-income countries especially, Sub-Saharan Africa. His research interests include areas such as health systems and policy analysis, healthcare financing, and global health and development in general. He has coordinated capacity building initiatives for training of researchers and policy makers from Anglophone Africa in the design, implementation and evaluation of UHC policies and programs.
Before joining R4D, Mr. Obi served as the health adviser with the Nigeria country office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where he led the implementation of programs on polio eradication, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, hospital management/quality improvement and other public health programs. He has provided technical consultancy services to the Federal Ministry of Health, international development agencies, NGOs and foundations to support the inception, design and evaluation of public health interventions in Nigeria. He also served as the Abuja liaison/research uptake officer for the Health Policy Research Group of University of Nigeria, under the DFID-funded Resilient and Responsive Health Systems (RESYST) research consortium coordinated by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As the lead on policy advocacy and research (at the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria), he coordinated the secretariat of the health sector reform coalition which led the advocacy for the passage and signing of Nigeria’s foremost health law in 2014, the National Health Act.
Mr. Obi currently serves as the media and communication officer of the African Health Economics and Policy Association, and is also a founding board member of the Public Health Foundation of Nigeria and a member of the Governing Board of West African Network of Emerging Leaders (WANEL) in Health Systems and Policy. He co-edits the Nigeria edition of the Africa Health Journal.
Mr. Obi holds a BSc (physiotherapy) from Bayero University, Kano Nigeria, a master’s degree in health planning and management from the University of Benin, Nigeria and an MSc in psychology and health from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Articles and other publications
- Adeloye D, Basquill C, Aderemi AV, Thompson JY, Obi FA.(2014) An estimate of the prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Hypertension, 32.
- Obi F.C.A. (2013). Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa: a policy review and analysis of the national response to NCDs and their risk factors in Nigeria. (MSc Applied Research Project thesis)
- Obi F.C.A. (2013). Establishment of the Nigerian Journal of Health Systems and Policy: final report of the feasibility study. Options Consultancy Services Ltd. London
- Obi F.C.A. (2012). Improving Access to Skilled Birth Attendants and Ambulance Services is Critical for Reducing Maternal Mortality and Achieving MDG 5 in Nigeria: Policy Brief. The Centre for Development and Population Activities. Washington.
- F.C.A. (2011).National Consensus Building Meeting on Skilled Human Resources for Health and Ambulance and Other Emergency Transport Services: Final Report. The Centre for Development and Population Activities. Washington.
- Obinna Onwujekwe, Ogo Ezeoke, Felix Obi and Benjamin Uzochukwu (2011). Situation analysis of financial health risk protection: Nigeria. Health Policy Research Group, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria and RESYST Consortium: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. London
