Time to declare state of emergency in Nigeria’s health sector

The recent disclosure by the Lagos State Government that no fewer than 18,000 residents of the state have been diagnosed with Tuberculosis is as alarming as the revelation that Nigeria is battling with the worst global cases of diagnostic errors and quackery thus exposing the citizens to untold health challenges, complications and unfortunate deaths,  which call for the declaration of a state of emergency in the nation’s health sector.

It would have been easier for analysts and stakeholders in the nation’s health sector to dismiss these discomforting revelations as unnecessary red flags considering the fact that Nigeria has never taken issues of public health on the same pedestal as the welfare and entitlements of state actors.

But raising these concerns at a time of massive flooding across many states of the federation which will certainly cause unavoidable spike in the rate of cholera and related diseases should prick the conscience of authorities into instigating remedial and indeed permanent solutions to the country’s health challenges with particular emphasis on such common sicknesses that accrue from preventable circumstances as poor sanitation, lack of clean drinking water, unhygienic cultural indulgences and absolute neglect of what ordinarily should have been taken as part of the basic entitlements of the populace.

Tuberculosis being an airborne disease poses a very strong threat to the population with the chances of the sickness escalating into a pandemic, a case which Nigeria can ill-afford.

Currently, cholera is on the rampage killing many Nigerians in Ebonyi, Oyo, Benue, Rivers and Kogi among other states which are busy burying their dead courtesy of the disease, the most recent being the 10 persons who died in Ebonyi State.

We note with serious concern that hospitals in the country are over flowing with patients as a result of the dearth of healthcare professionals many of whom have traveled abroad in search of a more conducive environment to practice their professions.

When you add these to the high cost of pharmaceutical products in the face of hyper inflation, the result would be calamitous for a country that prides itself as the giant of Africa. This can be considered as a wake-up call if the country must avoid the many more dangers ahead. With all indicators pointing to a growing crisis in the healthcare delivery system, there should be a greater resolve by the government to inject more funds into the ailing sector.

Therefore, in calling for an emergency in the nation’s health sector, we are mindful of the debilitating impacts of the continued unbridled exodus of Nigeria’s health workers to foreign nations in the face of very low budgetary allocation to the sector thus leaving the country and her citizens with few specialists both in the main theater of operation and such back ends as the laboratories and diagnostic units. Nigeria seems to be an exception to the global norm which holds that life has no duplicate.

We insist that the life of every Nigerian should be treated with utmost dignity coupled with the understanding that it is still very precious hence it must be protected with the finest coat deserving of all priceless ornaments. For Nigeria to be tagged the global headquarters of error in health diagnosis is to say that the country habours the highest number of avoidable deaths since errors in diagnosis are a sure bet to a death sentence or at best, permanent impairment; twin evils which no Nigerian should be associated with.

While commending the federal, states and various local government authorities for donating billions of naira in aid of victims of recent flood disaster which is currently ravaging many communities in the country, including the Maiduguri tragedy, we urge state actors to look beyond committing and indeed misappropriating such huge funds as handouts in manner of food items and bed materials but to be proactive in initiating rural health plans, centres and medications which should ordinarily survive the impacts of the flooding as to help fight against controllable sicknesses which are certain to spike as part of the aftermath effects of the poor hygienic environment which is usually made worse during rainy season as a result of  flooding.

We are unequivocal in advocating for the placement of a higher premium on the value of life of every Nigerian. Basic and primary healthcare facilities should be next in line to compulsory education at both the primary and secondary school levels. The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should make haste in implementing its recent policy of granting import waivers on medications and medical facilities. Drug manufacturing companies in the country should be granted a more flexible tax regime if only to encourage their continued stay in the country in the face of hostile operating environment amidst unfavourable competition from foreign drug manufacturers especially India, China and the United Kingdom.

As the Tinubu administration puts the finishing touches to its 2025 budget proposal, we challenge the managers on the need to improve resource allocation to the health sector by raising the percentage of the Health Ministry’s budget with the intent of inching closer to the threshold recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, funding for the health sector, never particularly high, began dwindling further after 2015 when it received 5.8 per cent of that year’s budget. This dropped to 4.1 per cent in 2016, rose to 5.1 per cent in 2017, only to drop again in 2018 to 3.9 per cent. Slight increases were thereafter recorded in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, with 4.1 per cent, 4.0 per cent, 4.3 per cent, and 4.6 per cent respectively.

Since there is no bending the truth which is the fact that governments all over the world are not structured to fix all the problems of their citizens, we advocate a reorientation of Nigerians to encourage them to indulge in securing private healthcare insurance schemes from Health Management Organizations (HMOs) as a way of complementing government efforts.

We commend the efforts of the Lagos State government in this direction courtesy of Ibile Eko venture where individuals and families pay as little as N18,000 to secure access to basic health care for a maximum period of one year. It is heartening to observe that public hospitals in Lagos conduct free Tuberculosis tests for patients for the purposes of early detection and subsequent treatment. We recommend similar steps to every state of the federation.

For a better society

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