Saving Nigeria’s health sector from total collapse

IT is a well known fact that in Nigeria, there has been a drain of the best hands in the health sector for some years now. Laboratory scientists, surgeons, medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses and even psychologists are leaving the country in large numbers to the detriment of the health sector, an important aspect that contributes to the development of any nation in the world. It is true that this is not out of place in many other countries of the world but it has got to a crescendo in our nation in the last five years. It seems the ratio now is a doctor to 1000 patients looking; many general hospitals lack competent doctors and other medical personnel even as patients stream in every second. The number of people needing medical attention is huge. In fact, many health centres have nurses who have risen to the post of matrons manning them. You may not see a doctor for weeks if you go for check up and some of the nurses play god. Health services should be free or at least subsidised to a great level so that everyone would be able to afford it without hassles. You pay for something as small as needles. Many therefore to patronize private hospitals as expensive as they are because it is believed there re all that is needed therein to cater for health needs unlike government hospitals.

I was discussing with a friend some months ago who happens to be a medical doctor. He owns two hospitals in Ibadan. I fixed an appointment with him on behalf of one of my numerous baby sisters whose child needed medical attention. She paid me a visit with her kids and on seeing her one year-old baby. I sensed all wasn’t well. His neck control was poor for a child that age and I called the mum’s attention to it. In the long run, we went to see my friend who diagnosed that the child had cerebral palsy. He gave the mother many tips that could help the baby and promised to recommend a good pediatrician and a physiotherapist who will take the job from him to help the baby further. He said this might be a bit difficult because some of the best hands he can recommend have left the country. According to him, he had reached out to two physiotherapists for some other patients who informed him they had relocated with their families to other countries. He was able to get eventually and he helped to book an appointments for the child eventually. Some weeks ago, chatting with another sister on whatsapp, a pharmacist who I haven’t heard from for some time. After pleasantries, informed me she had relocated to Canada with her children but her husband is still here to oversee their businesses. She had a very big pharmacy shop in Lagos. That is the current unfortunate trend—the emigration of competent hands in the medical field from the country.

A trip to many government hospitals across the country will make the need to shift focus on the health sector very glaring. Some of the general hospitals have buildings that need renovation, and the need for medical equipment is so glaring. Medical staff are inadequate, yet patients are trooping in and in dire need of medical attention. Beds aren’t enough in the wards and emergency wards in most hospitals do not have the necessary facilities. There have been cases of people dying due to lack of oxygen at the hospitals. There were cases where patients were left unattended to because money wasn’t paid beforehand. This can be overlooked if it’s a private hospital as they were built mainly for financial gain. But it should not be the case with hospitals owned by the government who promised to make health care accessible and affordable. There should be a big difference. It is high time something was done about this mass exodus of medical personnel from the country. Even if the government cannot stop them from leaving, there can be means of replacing those leaving with immediate effect, both at the state and federal level.

Those in service should be treated well. Their remuneration should be reviewed to be on a par with that of their counterparts in other countries. One of the reasons given for leaving is the poor salary those in the medical field receive compared to the time and energy they put in the job. If doctors and consultants are treated right, there will be contentment. There won’t be need for them to be diverting patients from government hospitals to private hospitals. Everything needed to make their job easy should be provided within the hospital environment. There should also be a law prohibiting medical staff working with either state or federal government from owning private hospitals. This will enable them to concentrate on the job. As long as they are earning well, they will be contented. It is not out of place to say doctors and nurses care for people even in the most difficult situations and must be available at any time when called upon to avoid loss of lives.

The incoming government should take it as a point of duty to address the challenges of the health sector. Monitoring teams should be sent to these hospitals as undercover agents to see how things are being run first-hand. They should be made to submit their reports to the Ministry of Health on a quarterly basis. Maybe if public officials are forced by the law to stop flying out of the country for medical attention, our hospitals might get a face-lift. They would have been able to witness these things and know how to make it right. Unfortunately, most public officials prefer to go to other countries which took the pain to invest in their own health sector, making it exquisite. It is sad to say Nigerian taxpayers are subjected to poor medical services. This leaves one to wonder why what is good for the goose is no longer good for the gander. The government should know that free health services with competent hands is a dividend of democracy.