Sayo Àlàgbé
07039535757
Human health is delicate like a fragile glass. Like a cat with nine lives, man bounces back from sickness to wellness. It is a cycle before man kisses the dust. Good healthcare deserves good business-mindedness. This is fact, not fictional piece. As the late sage, political avatar and elder state man: Chief Obafemi Awolowo once said: “if money is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lost, everything is lost. Health is wealth”. The late sage affirmation was premised on experience and observations on issues affecting human health and its attendant challenges.
Without mincing words, the available reality-check within the Nigerian private hospitals deserve utmost attentions, pro-active measures and serious preventive measures. It has been repeatedly mentioned times and time again that, there is nothing good and comparable to good health. A man without good health can be likened to a walking ghost, his days are already numbered.
Significantly, there is no smoke without fire. What really informed the decision to scribble this essay and makes it publicly available for policy-makers and government’s health agencies and personnel, to pay utmost attention to dire health needs of the members of the society. There is no substitute for good health.
While it is imperative to say that what you eat matters, it is pathetic that varieties of what human consumes at this material time, could be traced to the rate at which, unconsciously, human lives are lost or endangered; coupled with poor health facilities in the public and privately administered hospitals/healthcare centres with inexperienced doctors, unprofessional medical personnel, and the abundance of outdated sets of facilities and equipment.
Over-time, there have been series of reports of loss of lives and subjection of patients to ridiculous delays, further psychological tortures through misapplication of drugs, and improper execution of abortions and treatment of some ailments via fake and unapproved drugs. Albeit non judgemental, there have been negative news increase from our private hospitals, and healthcare centres across the country.
Furthermore, in spite of governments efforts at various levels to nip the illegal medical practices in the bud, is like water off the duck’s back, while human lives are lost geometrically every day, unabatedly. To the best of this writer’s knowledge, many of our hospitals in Nigeria are facing serious challenges like employment of untrained or underqualified medical personnel, leading to poor outcomes.
Still on this sensitive matter, the provision and availability of substandard facilities remain absurd and ridiculous to many Nigerians. The lack of modern equipment and inadequate infrastructures, compromises the quality of care provisions and delivery. Frankly, some private hospitals operate without meeting the necessary accreditation and licence requirements. It is obvious that the reign of inexperienced or unqualified staff, can, and always, result in medical malpractices and eventual avoidable loss of lives.
To be frank, some health care centres also prioritize profit over health-care delivery, compromise safety standards; while many of our private hospitals are not equipped to handle emergencies; whereas, out healthcare situations are usually emergence in nature. We don’t need soothsayers to tell us this. Thus, the alarming risk of casualties are simply avoidable.
Similarly, the most critical health situation is insufficient oversight by regulatory bodies, advertently or inadvertently, allows these hospitals to continue delivering services without meeting required standards. Members of staffs of such hospitals often lack access to periodic trainings and lack professional developments plan. Last but not the least is limited capacity in public hospitals where patients are often forced to rely on substandard private facilities. Negligence of our governments to curb something of this nature will continue to jeopardize and cause serious deterioration to human lives and health in this country.
Prevention, they say, is better than cure. To avoid further loss of human lives and avoidable unimaginable damage to human lives, as a matter of suggestion, governments at all levels, should take pro-active steps by providing necessary interventions by recommending and enforcing rigorous accreditation processes.
Moreover, this will ensure that our hospitals meet required standards before being certified satisfactory to deliver healthcare, conduct periodic audits of private hospitals to ensure compliance with healthcare standards and regulations, mandate continuous professional development programmes for all medical personnel, provide incentives, subsidies, or low – interest loans to private hospitals to upgrade their facilities; educate citizens on how to identify licenced and equipped hospitals; to discourage continuous patronage of substandard health centre, imposition of heavy penalties or closure of facilities that fail to meet minimum standards.
Finally, to invest in community health services would go a long way towards reducing reliance on substandard hospitals. As the saying goes, a stitch in times, saves nine. To take these proactive measures will not only uplift the healthcare levels of ordinary Nigerians, but will also secure and increase life-span on the common man on the street. The time to act is now!
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Health sector should be taken serious to reduce or stop avoidable death of patients