By Onyekachi Agudosi

‘Health is wealth”, or so they say. One might wonder about the truthfulness of those words or if they apply only under certain circumstances.

Sanwo-Olu seeks end to brain drain in health sector(Opens in a new browser tab)

From the deplorable state of our environment; poor access to health care; misplaced priorities from the powers that be; uninformed and ignorant citizenry to the unmotivated health workers; shortage of medical personnel to effectively handle the ever-rising population as well as the floundering NHIS system, there is no doubt that the Nigerian Health Sector is currently in a shambolic state.

Much has been said about the deplorable state of our health sector and numerous calls for change at the top have been made from different corners, yet there is no substantial evidence to suggest that progress is being made.

Apart from the significant progress made in the first two decades after independence in 1960, the Nigerian health sector has experienced a series of twists and turns as a result of the economic downturn. A number of health policies became subject to external factors, signalling a shift from welfare programs to structural adjustment programs, whereby user fee was introduced, paving the way for private healthcare provision. Still, substantial progress is yet to be seen as evident with the never-ending outcry by stakeholders in the public health care system.

This has not deterred the government and health policymakers from making more moves in the same direction, albeit only on paper. For instance, the Abuja Declaration requires the allocation of 15 percent of the national budget on health. Sadly, this has not been the case and it is further disheartening that since 2010, less progress has resulted. The lack of implementation of its policies saw the allocation of a paltry 3.7% to health in 2010, not even speaking of the actual amount released. Furthermore, only 20% of the budget is allocated to capital expenditures as 80% goes into recurrent expenditures. If the federal level takes such stance towards health care, what would one expect of the lower tiers of government?

The Nigerian healthcare system is largely underfunded. Taking account of inflation rates, which ascended to 17% in 2016, the healthcare system moves closer to oblivion. The reduced purchasing power of the budget leaves the healthcare system in no-man’s land.  To narrow it down and check the extent of the ongoings in the Nigerian Health sector, our team here at Rejuvenate Doctors 247 discovered some outstanding facts. The immense challenge we face as a state of Union, setting the pace for Africa at Large, reveals that 9 out of 10 Mom on a daily basis would suffer from poor access to basic health care, safe delivery and basic maternity kits.

In fact, 40,000 mothers and 240,000 newborns are lost in maternal related deaths, to describe the alarming mortality rates caused by an ineffective healthcare system.n Won’t the lack of progress and inadequacies of the health sector be ascribed to the path taken by its stakeholders? Well, the answers are not far off. There is a wide acceptance that any results that would change the system must be, or begin at the top. Perhaps, this popular view might be encouraged by the peculiar conditions facing the Nigerian system in general. Nevertheless, this approach only bears part of the solution and is the exact reason why no tangible progress is being made.  In spite of all these, there is no excuse to let catastrophe set in. Whatever the case may be, there is no doubt that a healthy workforce is needed to reverse the economic decline and subject it for inclusive growth.

Confidence in health care system will curb medical tour – Okowa(Opens in a new browser tab)

Nigerian Medical Brain Drain:  Another monster facing Africa Healthcare Enterprise: According to some estimates, about 2,000 doctors have left Nigeria over the past few years.Doctors have continued to blame the mass exit on poor working conditions and renumeration.While the annual healthcare threshold per person in the US is $10,000, in Nigeria it is just $6. “It has become worse; a doctor [in Nigeria] earns N200,000 monthly ($560), necessitating moving to countries where they can be better paid for their services … This ultimately means that eight of 10 Nigerians are presently receiving substandard or no medical care at all.”With an estimated population of over 180 million, there is one doctor per 5,000 people in Nigeria, compared with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of one per 600 people.

Interestingly, There are 72,000 doctors registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN); over half practise outside the country.Sadly,”Nine in every 10 doctors are considering work opportunities outside Nigeria. And it is projected to keep rising as doctors continue to face systemic challenges.  “I sincerely think [Nigeria] is already at the state of medical emergency, we really need to be on our mark” Rejuvenate Learn Health feels you need to know.  It goes beyond financing.  Money drives things, but there are other issues related to the challenges of the Nigerian health system. Think of Lagos, home to over 23 million persons for instance.

The Healthcare Facilities Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), reveals that 256-public healthcare centres and 26 General Hospitals are registered in the state. The statistic further goes on to show that the commercial Hub of the country is the home to 2,886 private hospitals including specialist clinic and diagnostic centres or laboratories as well as 160 tradomedical centres estimated to be in the state. Still, the high number of health facilities haven’t stopped the incessant cries about health worker’s lack of empathy, crowded emergency wards, and the endless wait to receive a shared room.

Health is wealth:  Many advanced nations have learned to translate the health of its citizenry to wealth and this can be done here as well. You do not need to think so much as the solutions are already here. The internet is not just changing how things are done but it is being used in practical ways to improve lives. It is championing a societal revolution in this day and age. Thanks to technology, we are now in touch with the future. Think about a technologically-driven healthcare platform that forms the bedrock of our health care system. It doesn’t stop at that though, but you can imagine the potential of mining information to help health providers render their services.

What is more, is that it can be translated to wealth. This is feasible both on a national scale and on an individual basis. Also, funding is required to get the Nigerian healthcare system out of peril but how  can we go about that?

The Right way forward

Leveraging on the advancements in the technology of our era, RejuvenateLearn Health is combining different learning experiences, designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes and behaviours towards positive health, through a professional learning platform.

Nigeria needs right political will to drive health insurance, UHC – HCPAN(Opens in a new browser tab)

The swirl of change is right at the corridor about swooping in. How do you become part of the new change and join leading global trends to promote the health practice on this shore?  You are invited to be part of the future on the 18th of December at Lagos University Teaching Hospital for an Inaugural Lecture on Health Education and Technology and on the 12th of December 2019 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja to the launch of the RejuvenateLearn Health program.

Vanguard