This November, we sat down to learn about Akachi Mbogu, Senior Program Manager for the Vaccines Program with the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and her life in Abuja with her friends and family.
How did you get started in immunization economics? In terms of how my career moved toward immunization economics, I have a background in public health and have been working in this field since 2014. My first degree is in anatomy, which I obtained from the University of Port Harcourt. In 2010, I completed a one-year internship at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency as part of the National Youth Service Corps, which is required of all Nigerian university graduates. During that time, I became acquainted with the field of public health. I was involved in a variety of maternal and child health projects including the immunization program where I got to learn about elements of immunization economics including program costing.Can you describe your career after your internship? I was so inspired by my internship experience that I decided to pursue a master’s degree in public health at Glasgow Caledonian University in the United Kingdom in 2012. Following my master’s program, I returned to Nigeria in 2014 to work with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency on the Nigeria State Health Investment Project, which was funded by the World Bank and was based on performance-based financing. I became acquainted with the field of health economics, which piqued my interest in considering how we can make the best use of resources to improve health indices. In 2014, after six months of working on performance-based financing, I started my career in CHAI working at the state level. After working on a few projects there, I was transferred to the national level, where I worked on a few projects before moving to the global level. From the global level, I moved back to the national team to manage the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s investments in vaccine programs.
In 2018, I became more involved in health economics by assisting the Nigerian government with the development of the ten-year Gavi extension case and transition plan. The country considered both programmatic and financial considerations aspects when developing the Gavi transition plan, so we had to do some financial modeling, programmatic analytical projections, and risk analysis which helped to inform the development of the Gavi transition plan.
I consider economics to be a very broad field because it connects to so many other fields, particularly when it comes to efficiency, effectiveness, optimal use of resources and return on investment. So, even though I work in public health, we cannot successfully practice public health without talking about health economics.
What do you work on at CHAI? I work with the vaccines program at CHAI Nigeria.
What do you like most about what you do? What I enjoy most about my job can be summed up in three points. First and foremost, I enjoy working in public health because it allows me to help save lives and reduce morbidity and mortality caused by vaccine-preventable diseases. Being driven by my passion to create sustainable health systems that improve health outcomes for underserved groups and communities, I enjoy being exposed to different challenges and having the courage to take on each challenge to bring value to the immunization space.
Second, I enjoy working at CHAI because it is an inclusive workplace that promotes equality and fosters an environment where people with diverse characteristics are embraced. I appreciate the strong work ethics and organizational values that guide what we do at CHAI and how our work impacts lives.
Finally, I love the immunization program because it is one of the most cost-effective public health programs that impact thousands of lives through vaccination. It is estimated that every $1 invested in vaccines saves $16 in future healthcare bills, lost income, and productivity (Health Affairs, 2016). Working with the country’s government and partners to provide technical advisory, thought partnership, evidence generation, data analysis, and capacity building to enhance access to life-saving vaccines and strengthen the health system in Nigeria and across many countries is a rewarding experience for me.
Do you have any tips for aspiring health economists? Develop your leadership, communication, and critical and strategic thinking skills, if you aspire to become a health economist. Do not limit yourself, as the field of economics connects other fields. To succeed as an economist, you must be able to glean data/information from a wide range of sources to support a diverse range of hypotheses and solve complex problems.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work? Simply put, I spend a great deal of time with my family and friends. My favorite memory is spending time with my family. I enjoy food; when I’m with my friends, we can go to the movies or try new restaurants. In fact, I have a list of Abuja restaurants that I share with my friends. We check the list of where we’ve been and where we should go next whenever we want to meet and wonder “where are we headed?” I believe we have thirty-six restaurants on our list, and these restaurants serve a wide range of foods, including Nigerian cuisine as well as foods from other nationalities such as Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian, and other African dishes. Nonetheless, I prefer our local cuisines.
I also enjoy traveling to different parts of the world for pleasure. When one travels, one learns about people, culture, nature, and a variety of other topics. Finally, I spend some of my spare time to mentor and coach young people as they make career decisions and develop startup business ideas. I make a lot of young friends, and I make time to talk to them and give them advice.
Where are you based, and what would you recommend to a visitor? I am based in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. Depending on each person’s specific preferences and personalities, I would recommend any guest to explore our native cuisine in any of Abuja’s restaurants.
What is your favorite family or cultural tradition? Traveling to eastern Nigeria for Christmas is my favorite family tradition. It’s a long-standing family tradition. Christmas is a time for my family and I to gather for our annual reunion. Unfortunately, as we get older and our families grow larger, not everyone comes home for Christmas. However, no matter where we live in the world, there are still many of us who adhere to the tradition. This is the time for us to spend together, bond, and do activities. We occasionally have family ceremonies, which we save for Christmas to allow people to come home and celebrate. Friends who don’t have Christmas plans have also joined in a few times. “If you want to see a fun crazy family, just come join us,” I tell them. I recall vividly one of our Christmas reunions when we went to a carnival in southern Nigeria. It took a lot of planning and organizing, but we were able to get over 20 people, including family and friends, to attend the carnival for a few days!
Are you interested in being featured in a future newsletter? Or would like to nominate another member? Please email immunizationeconomics@thinkwell.global with your suggestion and a brief description of your or their work. We are specifically interested in spotlighting the work and profiles of country researchers working on immunization economics.