The problems of Healthcare in Nigeria

Questions: What then does the new Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari,
have to do in order to tackle the persistent problems regarding the Nigerian’s
public health infrastructure?
Nigeria is ranked lower than war-ravaged countries such as
Iraq and Congo, with a mortality rate of 86:1000. This can be used as an
economic indicator (The Problem With Healthcare In
Nigeria - Health - Nairaland, 2017) , as today, Africa
faces a very unique set of healthcare challenges, and in most West African
countries, the following are the disease that are accounted for, for the
numerous deaths in Nigeria, plague, cholera and measles. Introducing antibiotics,
immunizations and good quality primary healthcare can assist in decreasing the
rate of these diseases.
Health problems that many Western Countries face are
associated with chronic diseases such as cardio vascular diseases, diabetes,
cancer and chronic diseases. On the other hand, in the whole of Africa,
infectious diseases remain a significant problem, and Nigeria is of no
exception. In addition, the economic development of parts of the world, mostly
in African countries, including Nigeria, contributes to an onslaught of
non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This adds
as a threat, and therefore actions must be taken to address this.
Many Western countries have made a fundamental error in addressing
the healthcare problems in Africa, and Nigeria is of no exception. They focus
on providing treatment for illnesses instead of health maintenance, and indeed,
it leads to unnecessary arguments on “sick-care system”, rather than “health
care system”. For example, the United
States spends an estimated amount of $trillion annually on health care, and
yet, America fails to achieve the best healthcare outcomes in the world. Furthermore,
the United States spends hundreds of billions of dollars annually to treat
preventable illness and diseases.
People fail to realize that Increase in healthcare spending
does not produce better healthcare outcomes, and that a great and unnecessary
proportion of healthcare funding is spent treating preventable diseases and
illnesses.
A study conducted by Harvard University revealed that a
preventable mobile health program returned $36 in savings on healthcare cost
for every $1 spent on prevention. Creating a culture of health as opposed to
focus on illness requires a commitment to prevention. Nigeria needs to focus on
preventing diseases and injuries as it is the most effective and common-sense
way to improve health.
The Nigerian healthcare problems are diversified, thereby
increasing the approaches and theories on improving millions of Nigerians
current access to basic healthcare. Decreasing the healthcare cost, and providing
universal healthcare coverage in Nigeria will be a significant factor for
improving its healthcare system (Orekunrin, 2015) .
REFERENCES
1.
Orekunrin, D. O. (2015, July 11). Nigeria’s
Healthcare Problems: A Three Pronged Solution. Political Matter.
Retrieved from https://politicalmatter.org/2015/07/11/10769/
2.
The Problem
With Healthcare In Nigeria - Health - Nairaland. (2017, January 26). Nairaland
Forum. Retrieved from
http://www.nairaland.com/838022/problem-healthcare-nigeria
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