THE NIGERIAN HEALTH SYSTEM

This is a primary health centre in Doka Village Nassarawa

Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy yet government spend on the health sector is low.15 years ago, the government promised to allocate 15% of its budget to the health sector. Currently, they allocate only 4.3%. Yet, everyday, 2000 Nigerian children and 158 women die because of poor access to basic health care. It is disheartening to know that we do not have adequate and well equipped medical centres for a large population as that of our dear country Nigeria. We just do not regard human life here.The change we seek for first starts with us. You go to the so called government hospitals and you get the worse care ever. The irony of this is that you should get the best care in such hospitals. Sometimes you do not have light, basic equipment are not in place, drugs are not provide. Its safe to say some hospitals are mortuaries. Sometimes, all a patient needs is some nurse smiling at you and you get well faster. You have people who until you bribe them; they dont work. I can recount the experience of one of my colleagues whose mother was in a certain government hospital at a time.My Gosh, her experience was horrible. The morale she said in the hospital was what contributed to her passing on (May her soul rest in peace). People were not just ready to work. Even if they were, they were bribed. Someone can be dead for days and they just for some reason refuse to carry the person. I can go on and on.No LIFE I mean no LIFE is superior to the other. Good Health Care is a myth right now in Nigeria and even if such exists, you pay through your nose. This is even worse in the rural areas. Some cannot even get to the primary health centers,some have to walk miles before care is given. It is only God that saves the poor in this country. Some more issues with our healthcare system include:

Same description with the picture above

• The structure of the healthcare system is poorly developed. This has caused it to suffer major setbacks, more especially at the local government levels.
• There is also no adequate surveillance of the system to check its effectiveness.
• Low Morale by government doctors. The system is suffering a major challenge as a result of low morale by government doctors. The doctors are majorly protesting over meager pay. The low morale is leading to low quality of medical service offered.
• While the system has done a lot to include many citizens in the insurance scheme, there are still many citizens who are not insured. This is considered to be a major setback for the healthcare system in Nigeria.

Still, the health indicators in Nigeria have remained below internationally-set benchmarks. At the moment the health sector in Nigeria is characterized by a lack of effective stewardship role of government, disjointed health service delivery, weak health infrastructure, insufficient and inefficient financing, and mal-distribution of health work force among key players.



All Images were taken from NAIJ.COM

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