Xiadnat:
Below Is a quote that I got from an article (a blog really) that I was reading for my MBA course about "medical outsourcing or tourism" In Nigeria. Woefully, many Nigerians that can afford health care are leaving to countries such as Europe, US, India to get medical care termed "medical tourism". And it is destroying Nigeria's health care system and economy in general.

I am just so saddened. Even the title of this post is heartbreaking. So many issues with Nigeria's (or Africans') health care system, it's hard to even know where to begin.



"The World Health Organisation ranks the country’s health system 197th out of the 200 nations in its 2009 report. In terms of life expectancy, Nigeria ranks 212th in the world. In terms of expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP, it ranks 139th in the world. It has the 2nd highest number of deaths pa from HIV/AIDS. The risk of major infectious disease is categorised as “very high”. In the UK, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed that three-quarters of the doctors struck off the General Medical Council (GMC) register in the past years are foreign-trained; those trained in Nigeria rank second. UNICEF and WHO have recently condemned a series of attacks on health workers in Nigeria. Last month, the US Government threatened to cut off $660 million of grant aid to Nigeria over concerns over corruption and the recent pardons of corrupt officials by the Nigerian government".




For more on the blog post:
http://www.imtj.com/blog/2013/nigeria-medical-tourism-destination-40182/?locale=en


I hope one day to be able to do something. I think the brain drain is killing the nation. A nation full of smart intelligent and innovative people, but most are taking their talent abroad, leaving behind a wreck and broken infrastructure.

We all can do something, one step for wo/man kind, giant leap for all Nigerians. But, nothing will work UNTILL the corruption stops from TOP to Bottom.

Xia A, MD-MBA.

Xiadnat:
Below Is a quote that I got from an article (a blog really) that I was reading for my MBA course about "medical outsourcing or tourism" In Nigeria. Woefully, many Nigerians that can afford health care are leaving to countries such as Europe, US, India to get medical care termed "medical tourism". And it is destroying Nigeria's health care system and economy in general.

I am just so saddened. Even the title of this post is heartbreaking. So many issues with Nigeria's (or Africans') health care system, it's hard to even know where to begin.

[i]"The World Health Organisation ranks the country’s health system 197th out of the 200 nations in its 2009 report. In terms of life expectancy, Nigeria ranks 212th in the world. In terms of expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP, it ranks 139th in the world. It has the 2nd highest number of deaths pa from HIV/AIDS. The risk of major infectious disease is categorised as “very high”. In the UK, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed that three-quarters of the doctors struck off the General Medical Council (GMC) register in the past years are foreign-trained; those trained in Nigeria rank second.....

Xiadnat:
Below Is a quote that I got from an article (a blog really) that I was reading for my MBA course about "medical outsourcing or tourism" In Nigeria. Woefully, many Nigerians that can afford health care are leaving to countries such as Europe, US, India to get medical care termed "medical tourism". And it is destroying Nigeria's health care system and economy in general.

I am just so saddened. Even the title of this post is heartbreaking. So many issues with Nigeria's (or Africans') health care system, it's hard to even know where to begin.



"The World Health Organisation ranks the country’s health system 197th out of the 200 nations in its 2009 report. In terms of life expectancy, Nigeria ranks 212th in the world. In terms of expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP, it ranks 139th in the world. It has the 2nd highest number of deaths pa from HIV/AIDS. The risk of major infectious disease is categorised as “very high”. In the UK, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed that three-quarters of the doctors struck off the General Medical Council (GMC) register in the past years are foreign-trained; those trained in Nigeria rank second. UNICEF and WHO have recently condemned a series of attacks on health workers in Nigeria. Last month, the US Government threatened to cut off $660 million of grant aid to Nigeria over concerns over corruption and the recent pardons of corrupt officials by the Nigerian government".




For more on the blog post:
http://www.imtj.com/blog/2013/nigeria-medical-tourism-destination-40182/?locale=en


I hope one day to be able to do something. I think the brain drain is killing the nation. A nation full of smart intelligent and innovative people, but most are taking their talent abroad, leaving behind a wreck and broken infrastructure.

We all can do something, one step for wo/man kind, giant leap for all Nigerians. But, nothing will work UNTILL the corruption stops from TOP to Bottom.

Xia A, MD-MBA.

laudate:


When I read about three-quarters of Nigerians getting struck off the GMC register in the UK, I laughed!

Why won't they get struck off when most of them have such an arrogant, condescending attitude to their patients and their work especially in Nigeria? They often carry their bad behaviour abroad with them.

The first rule abroad, is that as a doctor you MUST do everything possible to save lives. Go the extra mile, if you have to. In Nigeria, many doctors (not all) are rather nonchalant and carry themselves as demi-gods. Each time they carry that attitude abroad to foreign hospitals, they get busted, especially when they do not follow the rules.

I asked a young doctor here in the General Hospital in Marina, Lagos that I wanted to see the consultant who was in charge of a relative of mine, that was on admission. His condition had not improved and I wanted to know why. The young doctor flared up, aghast. He wanted to know why I had the effrontery to request to see the medical consultant.

He threatened to abandon the patient if I did not rescind my decision.

Now, can you imagine such a doctor practicing abroad with this kind of attitude? Of course, his patients would lodge a complaint against him at the medical council.

Doctors in Nigeria are also fond of going on strike at the least provocation. Abeg, I don tire.....

mikolo80:
we have a medical council
you could have made a scene
reported him
or sued
you chose the path of least resistance

laudate:


Reported him to who? His boss who is probably be just as arrogant

as he is? Have you ever received treatment in a public hospital before?

And have you ever reported a doctor to the Medical & Dental Council, before?

i]What came out of it?[/i]

Guy, abeg...the most important thing was to ensure that the patient received the right kind of treatment to boost his chances of survival.

Ask all those who reported doctors to the MDCN if their loved ones survived and what happened at the end of the day.

mikolo80:

you didn't even try
yet you somehow expect his boss to magically know what is going beneath his nose
how do you know the boss doesn't have an axe to grind and is waiting for such a complaint
who dares wins my friend

no i have been blessed with excellent health
but if my dad had died under a particularly money hungry incompetent doctor... I would have burnt their hospital their homes and maybe their families to the ground

no but my dad threatened him
and

he coughed out our 250 K sharp sharp
na him license him de play with

as you have stated tact matters you don't shout on doctor when your loved one is in critical condition

but you should never shakara somebody if you don't have what it takes to follow through
that's for those who are willing to use their rights
the men not boys

many cases have been shown on nta newsline
what's your next excuse

Nigerians ever ready to complain
not willing to inconvenience themselves to solve the problem and yet you wonder why the system remains shitty

Doren Hospital misdiagnosed an ailment that could have killed me! | by Ibilola Essien

I struggled with whether to share this story and how much of it, I should.

I share so that you can look out and ask questions. You have just One Body. It can fail because some trained doctor did not bother to do proper investigative tests...

One saturday in July, I woke up in pain. I was feverish. I was tired. I could not explain what I was truly feeling. All I knew was I did not feel right.

I attributed it to the recent stress at work and was determined to rest the whole day despite the fact that saturdays are (cleaning and cooking days). Yes oh.

So I rested the whole of saturday confident that sunday would be better and I would be up and ready for work by monday.

Sunday dawned and I was feeling much better. By evening however, the fever had returned and I was in all shades of pain. Pain on my back but largely on my abdomen.

My husband decided to take me to Doren Specialist Hospital (his HMO hospital in Ajah). We got there and the doctor said she thought it might be Urinary Tract Infection or Acute appendicitis. Because of the pain they immediately placed me on IV and by the next morning, I had taken like 10. Subsequently they called the Chief Surgeon to take a look at me. He ordered that I do a scan on the 1st floor of their hospital to confirm his theory that it was acute appendicitis. I did the scan followed it with blood and urine tests.

Already, I was irritated with the quality of service in the hospital. The nurses were inefficient when they drew blood, my IV would run out for at least 30 minutes before the nurse would change it, blood would stain the sheets till I begged they be removed. I felt like I was in hell.

On seeing the result of my 'scan' the chief surgeon was convinced that I had acute appendicitis. At this point after seeing the wish washy attitude, I decided to google 'appendicitis'. My findings led me to ask the doctors if there were other ailments that may mirror the symptoms of appendicitis. One of them told me he was the doctor and what he said was the issue, was the issue. I shut my mouth (abi, it is law I read, I didn't read medicine).

Then came tuesday, the day prescribed for surgery. I was so upset. No one had come to explain anything ( I mean they were about to invade my body, the least they could do was give me detailed information of the procedure, I had a right to know. Didn't I?)

After I had nagged and screamed the hospital down, they eventually sent the anaesthetist to come and give me a 'detailed script' of how the surgery would go down. (Please pay attention to the 'detailed script', it is intended to be sarcastic, just in case the meaning is lost on you)

I went in. I did the surgery. I was bedhooked for 5days in the hospital and another 5 days at home.

The experience left a metallic taste in my mouth. What kind of hospital was that?

I resumed work in two weeks looking hot like fire and began to live life like nothing happened.

September came ( two months later). The pain resumed. Kai. What kind of wahala was this? Sebi they took out the acute appendicitis? (Guess my enemies were not happy. lol)

My sensitive and vigilant mum called. My dad said I should go to 'Mecure'. I did (they said I needed a doctor's referral). My mum insisted that I go see Aunty Mabel to take me to the Advanced Videoscopic and Laparascopy Center. Everyone was fretting. What was going on?

I went to see the physician at this new prescribed hospital. He examined me and told me he thought it was either a Liver disease or a condition known as Endometriosis.

He ordered me to go to a Consultancy and Investigative Center to do thorough tests like the ultra sound, CT Scan & Liver function test.

At the investigative center, they push liquid through my rectum for minutes, pump mixed 'liguids' through my arm. The result comes out. It shows clearly that Doren Specialist Hospital cut out my appendix for nothing. http://ilsa-aida..com.ng/2013/03/doren-hospital-misdiagnosed-ailment.html

....As a law student many years ago, i remember taking the course LAW AND MEDICINE. I can recall that we had absolutely no Nigerian cases to refer to in that course, with the level of incompetence going on in our hospitals i was shocked.

I was so vexed then but now that am wiser, i have come to understand the peculiar nature of our country. How do you sue a doctor who was negligent in administering treatment in this "naija" i use "naija " to sum up the peculiar nature of the country. We cannot estimate the level of underground work that one is expected to do to successfully sue.

Doctors in Nigeria do not talk to patients, they do not explain procedures to you. They see you as troublesome when you start asking questions. You can't even read their writing nor get to understand the prescriptions. The second opinion you go in search of (another doctor) would even confuse you the more just to make money off you. The medical profession is run like a cabal- cult.

Doctors who know what they are doing can not speak out against others. Just like the case above-Dr Ojukwu is their junior colleague, will the said Dr. Ojukwu agree to testify against his senior colleagues what will be his fate after the case? would they not frustrate him in his career (naija factor), How would one even gather evidence when the hospital would have destroyed everything tangible you can hold on to.

It is indeed a hard nut to crack in this country. Even when they are reported to the governing body. http://ilsa-aida..com.ng/2013/03/doren-hospital-misdiagnosed-ailment.html