Posted on: Tue 08-08-2017

The health indices of any nation are one of the best measures of the standard of living of her people. It is not far-fetched then, why most developed countries give priorities to their health sector over any other. This cannot be said of many African countries. Every fibre of the health sector of countries in Africa is rotten, dilapidated and non-functional in many cases. The basic unit of health care system; the Primary Health Care is in shambles and many at times completely absent in terms of concept and practice. What can be said of primary health centre that has no basic infrastructures of electricity, water, drugs and other sanitary disposables to function at the minimum acceptable level?

Tertiary health centres are not different. Many of them are mere gigantic structures lacking required cutting edge technologies and equipment for research, training and healthcare delivery. Asides infrastructure, manpower is a big issue for the health sector in many African countries. Healthcare workers are not produced in numbers adequately enough. Further, lack of enabling working conditions, poor remunerations, lack of motivation and absence of policy direction and sustenance are among the reasons for these ab initio inadequate numbers leaving for a greener pastures outside Africa.

 

A very recent report by the Emigration Doctor Survey by NOIPools in conjunction with the Nigeria Health Watch said that 2500 doctors to exit the shore of Nigeria in search of a better life within the next one month. This is a country that has produced more than 70000 doctors over the years according to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (the registration and regulatory body for doctors in Nigeria) but has about 35,000 as registered practicing doctors. This gives a ratio of one doctor to 5419 patients using the latest United Nations population estimates of about 192 million people for Nigeria. This implies that it will take about 90 years for Nigeria to produce enough doctors to meet the World Health Organisation’s standard of one doctor to 600patients with the current rate of less than 3000 doctors being produced per year by the country. The saddening irony amidst all these unfortunate statistics is that fresh and older doctors still don’t have placement for internship and permanent jobs as the case may be.

The implication of these naked facts is that human resources are being wasted daily in Africa. Many lives are dying which could have been saved with little efforts. More alarming and dreadful would be the outbreak of any of the emerging and reemerging infectious diseases on African soil. We have not forgotten the recent Ebola, Lassa, and Meningitis outbreaks. Some African countries affected are still counting their losses. The two major factors that come to play at the time like that are healthcare human capital and infrastructures, with health care leadership at the epicenter. And Africa cannot boast of having both. The question we need to ask is that hope many “Stella Adadevohs” that should and would have saved us at such critical moments have not left or leaving the country?

Barely few days to the three year anniversary of the death of Dr Stella Adadevoh, no posthumous national honour or award and no effort to immortalize her by the Federaal Government of Nigeria for her heroic act. Time will tell if we are not killing patriotism and nationalism in Nigeria doctors and African healthcare workers in general.

Dele Atiba

[email protected]

08063264061

For  Stella Adadevoh Support Group - SASG

---

---