Nigeria healthcare is being faced with a lot of various problems. That needs to be handled:
Problems Nigerian doctors face in healthcare
- Healthcare Nigeria: Lack of Coverage
According to the originator of Flying Doctors Nigeria, out of the million population, we have in Nigeria. It is only 3% of Nigerians have ample health care coverage. When people that are suffering from contagious diseases can’t get help. They stay sick for extended periods of time and communicate a disease to the people they come into dealings with. Due to the result of the low coverage, doctors easily get stunned by outbreaks. This often comes down to deadly illnesses themselves.
- Healthcare Nigeria: Ebola outbreaks
In 2014, 120 health workers in West Africa died from the outbreak of Ebola. The major reason was- Lack of equipment, Insufficient funding, shortages of staff and exhaustion. These were some of the factors that allowed Ebola to affect doctors and nurses. Unless Nigeria invests more money to its healthcare programs, they will continue to be troubled by the threat of an outbreak.
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- Healthcare Nigeria: Low pay and widespread corruption
Due to the corruption practices, health care workers often extort money from sick people before letting them get treatment. A corrupt nurse demanded money from the spouse of a pregnant woman to pay for a blood transfusion. The husband– a man by the name of Benson Okomika argued that the transfusion should have been covered, but the nurse would not let go. The man borrowed some money from his friend. But by the time he made it back to the hospital his wife was dead. One of the reasons why healthcare workers go into extortion is that their payments are very low. In order to stop corruption, doctors and nurses should be paid well.
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- Healthcare Nigeria: Ignorance among hospital staff
Many nurses in Nigeria are oblivious about basic medical facts. In rural areas, ignorance runs extensively concerning patients with HIV or AIDS. One unidentified patient from Delta reported that it is not uncommon for HIV patients to get shouted at just for accidentally touching a nurse.
- Healthcare Nigeria: Fake drugs
In Nigeria, the insufficient fund has led to some hospitals selling fake drugs to patients. This has killed many Nigerians from diseases that could have been treated if they were given the right medication. Often there is no way to tell if a drug is genuine or not until it is too late. Until the peddlers of fake drugs are brought to justice, there is little that can be done.
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- Healthcare Nigeria: Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
During the dramatic Ebola outbreak of 2014, courageous Nigerian doctors and health care professionals stepped up to the plate to combat the deadly disease. Some particularly courageous doctors and nurses put their own lives at risk just because they saw someone who desired help urgently. If the good people working in the Nigerian healthcare system receive an adequate amount of help and support from the government, the healthcare situation in Nigeria will improve. If the good people working in the Nigerian health care system receive an adequate amount of help and support from the government, the healthcare situation in Nigeria will improve.
