News And PoliticsCommunications And EntertainmentSports And FitnessHealth And LifestyleOthersGeneralBusiness And MoneyWorldnewsNigerianewsRelationship And MarriageStories And PoemsArts And EducationScience And TechnologyCelebrityEntertainmentMotivationalsReligion And PrinciplesNewsFood And KitchenHealthPersonal Care And BeautyBusinessFamily And HolidaysStoriesIT And Computer ScienceSportsRelationshipsLawLifestyleComedyReligionLifetipsEducationMotivationAgriculturePoliticsAnnouncementUSMLE And MedicalsMoneyEngineeringPoemsSocial SciencesHistoryFoodGive AidBeautyMarriageQuestions And AnswersHobbies And HandiworksVehicles And MobilityTechnologyFamilyPrinciplesNatureQuotesFashionAdvertisementChildrenKitchenGive HelpArtsWomenSpiritualityQuestions AnsweredAnimalsHerbal MedicineSciencePersonal CareFitnessTravelSecurityOpinionMedicineHome RemedyMenReviewsHobbiesGiveawayHolidaysUsmleVehiclesHandiworksHalloweenQ&A
Top Recent
Loading...
You are not following any account(s)
Instablog9ja
profile/5377instablog.png.webp
Instablog9ja
Wife Material Doings: What IVD Cannot Do Does Not Exist Relationship Expert Blessing Okoro Says As She Shows How Love Has Transformed Her
~3.1 mins read
profile/5377instablog.png.webp
Instablog9ja
VDMs Arrest: We Are Watching Very Closely Nigerian-American Legislator Tells EFCC
~2.8 mins read
profile/5377instablog.png.webp
Instablog9ja
Why You Should Not Marry Your Age-mate Reno Omokri
~3.7 mins read
News_Naija
profile/5683FB_IMG_16533107021641748.jpg
News_Naija
From Patient To Hostage, A Health System In Bondage
~2.6 mins read
NIGERIA’S healthcare system is in bondage. This was buttressed by the detention of a couple and their newly born baby by the authorities of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital over unpaid delivery bills recently. The system requires an urgent rescue by the local, state, and federal governments. The couple, Umoru Abdullahi, his wife, Happiness, and their newly born child were detained for 21 days by UNIBEN, Edo State, for their inability to pay the balance of N200,000 of the N530,000 charged for Caesarean section. It took the intervention of some Nigerians to pay the balance and free the couple and the baby from hospital detention. The Abdullahi case is just one of the hundreds of detained patients in the country. Akpesiri Ojiko, 36, was delivered of a set of twins at a public hospital in Delta State in November 2022, but one of the twins had to be referred to a private hospital for lack of bed space. The adventure to a private hospital cost N383,500, which she could not afford. The baby was detained and separated from her mother for one month before a philanthropist came to her rescue. The two scenarios above highlight the harrowing experiences of many Nigerians, whose capacities have been grossly eroded by the sordid economic realities and the gross irresponsibility of the leaders. The detention of indebted patients explores legal, professional, and humanitarian responsibilities of the physician. The three grounds compel doctors to engage in fair play in health matters and patient management. While doctors must stay in business to render their services to the people, there is a need for them to conduct their business within the confines of the law. Doctors complain of abuse of privilege by patients discharged on compassionate grounds. This is most uncharitable. Patients should desist from attitudes that will stand in the way of patients in need. However, doctors must strike the delicate balance between keeping hospitals in business and performing their duties of rescuing lives, especially the indigent ones. A WHO report says Nigeria is one of only three countries where out-of-pocket health spending exceeds 70 per cent of current health spending in the country. A survey indicates that malaria treatment in some hospitals costs N100,000. This is N30,000 more than the monthly minimum wage. It has pushed Nigerians to quacks and alternative medicine practitioners. The government’s neglect of the sector creates needless fatalities. A 2023 WHO report ranks Nigeria with the second-highest number of maternal deaths globally. Less than six years to the deadline, Nigeria is still nowhere close to meeting the 2030 SDG target of reducing maternal deaths to less than 70 per 100,000 live births. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, said the country loses $2 billion annually to medical tourism. It is sheer selfishness that leaders will fail to build the health sector but travel abroad for medical treatment at will. Under this hopeless situation, medical practitioners have fled the country in search of greener pastures and a better working environment. A Gavi estimate says a mere 55,000 doctors are serving over 230 million Nigerians. The failure of the government to fix the three tiers of the health system is at the heart of the chaos. The National Health Insurance Scheme, which should have handled minor ailments and drugs for the poor and the middle class, is dysfunctional. A 2024 study by the Journal of Global Health Economics and Policy says, “Less than five per cent of Nigerians are enrolled in NHIS, while 70 per cent still finance their healthcare independently.” The scheme should be revitalised and made accessible to the low-income earners with a free premium for the indigent, the aged and the vulnerable.
Read more stories like this on punchng.com
Loading...