It’s no news that Nigerian celebrities and politicians travel abroad to get treatment for their ailments, while those who can’t afford it writhe in pain and penury. ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM writes on why efforts should be channelled towards improving healthcare delivery in the country
With over 160 million people and the largest economy in Africa, it baffles one that a country as influential and rich as Nigeria could lack the necessary facilities in the health sector.
It’s no longer news that Nigerian celebrities and others have died due to lack of good medical facilities and attention that would have catered for their various ailments.
What about those who lived just because they could afford the huge amount that would take care of their ailments?
Everyday in Nigeria, more than 200 people die of one chronic disease or the other due to lack of good medical health.
Indian Hospital
A cursory look at the operations of an Indian Hospital, the Narayana Hrudayalaya (Temple of the Heart) health city on the outskirts of Bangalore, which offers a completely new way of delivering high quality healthcare to rich and poor alike, is worthwhile here.
Filmed over a four-month-period by two crews in this four-hospital health city complex, the series explores life in modern India through the prism of the challenges faced by a hospital in a society of over 1.2 billion people, where extreme poverty and extreme wealth are to be found side-by-side.
For the 40 per cent of those people who live below the poverty line, getting good quality healthcare is difficult and often impossible. A serious illness or accident in a family can cripple their finances and affect the prospects of generations to come. Borrowing money or selling assets for medical needs is the most common reason for indebtedness in India.
Under the guidance of Dr Devi Shetty, cardiac surgeon, innovative businessman and founder, the Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital is addressing some of these inequalities and inequities.
The hospital provides the most complex operations on an industrial scale. And it needs to, as India is a country where two million cardiac operations are needed every year, but only 95,000 are carried out. Here, more paediatric open heart surgeries are undertaken each year than anywhere else in the world. Up to 500 cataract operations are performed per day. Cardiac surgery costing $40,000 to $50,000 or more in the U.S. has a baseline cost of just $1,800 in India.
Its huge scale and improved efficiencies allows the hospital to reduce costs, not only for those who can afford to pay, but also for the very poor who can get the best care the hospital can offer at virtually no cost through assistance from the hospital’s charity unit.
Nigeria
The hospitals across the country are a far cry from what is obtainable in other countries. From the staff to doctors, their attitude speak of people who feel they are doing people a favour by doing their jobs. The way and manner they maltreat their patients, especially pregnant women could even lead to stillbirth, amazing right thinking people if they are supposed to be trained professionals.
According to Ahman Makams, Nigeria rich men want to always show they are better than others. ‘the poor cannot access good healthcare which also encourages discrimination. One is entitled to good healthcare how many poor have the money to go to big hospitals abroad? They use tax-payers money to improve their lives while leaving others to die’. He explained.
But Patience Ivie put the blame on the medical health workers for their lacklustre attitude. ‘I think the government is trying on its own part but our main challenge is the attitude of our health workers. A good number of Nigerians have died due to mistakes and nonchalant attitude exhibited by health workers. Remember our colleague, Asabe, she died because National Hospital gave wrong diagnosis and before they found out her real problem, it was too late. Accident victims have lost their lives on different occasions, due to health workers refusal to attend to them. The government needs to do more, but the bulk of change lies within our health workers,’ she said.
On his part, Alhamdu Kwasu said the medical facilities should be modernised to attract foreigners to patronise them. ‘We want to see hospitals modernised and equipped with good facilities. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have professionals. Do you know how many celebrities died due to lack of good medical care? There must be focus on the health sector,’ he advised.
The little facilities available are not properly maintained. When there are complications, due to lack of facilities, patients are advised to be flown abroad (India, USA, Britain etc) which doesn’t tell good of our health system.
Medical Tourism
90 per cent of public office holders including the president of Nigeria go on medical tourism. Medical Tourism could be described as exporting someone to a foreign land for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment which adds to the economy of that country both directly and indirectly.
A simple example of medical tourism is when politicians and other influential Nigerians embark on trips abroad with tax-payers money.
In addition, the money which would have been channelled towards improving the health sector are used to care for themselves.
NOLLYWOOD
Many veteran actors died of various treatable ailment which could have been avoided. While some where flown abroad(medical tourism) due to dearth of facilities, others couldn’t afford the money to keep them alive. Though people like Ngozi Nwosu, OJB Jezreel survived the surgery, others couldn’t make it. Had there been the necessary medical attention on ground, they might have still been alive acting.
Ashley Nwosu
Very famous in playing the role of a villain in his movies, Nwosu’s death was as a result of a liver complication and he passed away at the military hospital in Yaba – Lagos in April 2011.
Sam Loco Efe
The popular comedian, Sam Loco who starred in over 200 movies in his Nollywood career, passed on in August 2011. Police reports suggested the actor died of acute asthma, as two canisters of inhalers were discovered at the scene of his death.
David Ihezie
He was very popular among Ugandans for his roles in David and Goliath. One of the founding fathers of Nollywood, he died after battling with Arthritis at his home in January 2012.
Enebeli Elebuwa
Face of Nollywood, Elebuwa died in December 2012 from a stroke he had suffered the previous year. In his quest for healing, the aging actor visited, among others, a controversial Nigerian pastor until finally being airlifted to an Indian hospital from where he died.
Pete Eneh
Eneh’s death in November 2012, following a leg infection, has largely been attributed to spiritual attacks, ironically in line with roles he excelled at in his screen characters. Doctors at a local facility opted to amputate the actor’s leg after an earlier improper treatment had left it swollen. The operation, however, tainted the illness, causing his death.
Chris Nkulor
The late Chris Nkulor died barely a month after news hit the internet that he was in need of about N6 million for a kidney surgery.
His friends were still rallying to raise the amount needed for his surgery at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching hospital Ile-Ife, Osun State, when he died.
The veteran actor had gone underground, unknown to many that he was actually suffering from a kidney ailment.
BRAIN DRAIN
The biggest issue since the inception of democracy is brain drain. Professional Nigerians who are supposed to have contributed to the growth of the economy are forced to leave the country because the system made them to. Nigerians are the best doctors, engineers, architects, economist, actors in the world but they are not encouraged to invest their time and energy in the country.
Way Forward
It is true that everyone has the right to seek for a better life anywhere around the world but the country’s leaders should as a matter of urgency improve the medical sector to save Nigerian lives. Getting good medical healthcare shouldn’t be a thing of luxury, it should be the responsibility of the government to provide accessible health care so the professionals outside the country could come back home to help in building the nation and protecting the lives of the citizenry.
source: http://www.leadership.ng / Leadership, Nigeria / Home> Entertainment / by Anthony Ada Abraham / June 29th, 2014
