BY Osagie Ize-Iyamu- Edo State 2016 PDP Governorship aspirant.

A medical doctor friend of mine in a state of lamentation narrated to me sometime ago a pathetic story. A young beautiful girl had a domestic accident with kerosene explosion that left her partially burnt. Rather than take her to the hospital, her parents apparently poor, chose to treat her themselves through a traditional method. They got palm oil and went to source for the droppings of a lizard which they were told if mixed with the oil, would bring healing. They applied the concoction faithfully but rather than the girl getting better, she grew worse. By the time my friend was frantically begged to see the girl in her parents’ house, she was dying of infection of the blood. On seeing her condition, my friend normally gentle became livid with rage. “Why was she not taken to the hospital and who recommended this deadly mode of treatment”? He asked. The parents nervously confessed that poverty had constrained them. They didn’t have money for hospital admission or treatment and so sought for a cheap traditional method. My friend prevailed on them to move her immediately to the hospital which they reluctantly did. She however died two days later.
My friend’s complaint was that she ought not to have died. The burns she had was not severe enough to kill her. At worse, it could only have disfigured her. What killed her was the infection she contacted by those who treated her with the droppings of a lizard. If she had been taken to the hospital when the accident happened, she could most likely have survived. This tragedy that resulted in an untimely death is not an isolated one. There are many similar cases arising from ignorance, poverty, negligence and the poor state of our health care system. Why should the poor in our midst not be able to access government hospitals in the face of serious medical challenges without the thought of how to pay their medical bills? What is government policy to her indigenes especially the poor who are in dire need of medical assistance but lack the means to pay? Another question begging to be answered is how good are our government hospitals?
The alarming rate at which Nigerians rich and not so rich travel abroad for medical treatment and even examination suggests that all is not well with our health care system. India, South Africa and even Ghana have become alternative medical destinations for Nigerians who cannot get to America or Europe. What really is the problem with our hospitals? Is it that our medical personnel are so bad that they cannot be trusted by those who can afford their services? On the contrary our medical personnel are good and ranks amongst the best in the world. Ironically, we export medical personnel to America, Europe and Asia. The fault is clearly not with our medical personnel. The problem is with our health care management. We have hospitals that are bereft of medical equipment. Where we have medical equipment there are no trained personnel to man them. We have dispensaries that have no drugs and when we attempt to buy drugs from government hospitals we discover to our dismay that they are even more expensive than those sold outside.
Medical practice is not properly regulated and quacks are now running clinics. Government treats health issues with levity and doctors and other medical personnel have become disenchanted and demoralized. The hospitals have become a divided house with doctors fighting a supremacy battle with Medical Lab Scientists, nurses and other health personnel. Government needs to be more attentive to health issues. Our hospitals lack funds to operate and there is no incentive for hard work. Policies must be put in place that will define how our hospitals are licensed and managed. Human life the very essence of medical practice is too precious to trifle with.
Chief Lucky Igbinedion, former governor of Edo State built and equipped Stella Obasanjo hospital in Benin City as a specialist hospital for women and children. Successive governments unfortunately do not see anything good in the legacies of their predecessors and so there is no continuity of vision. The hospital is grossly underutilized and most of the medical equipment unused. We advise Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who is also erecting a big complex at the central hospital premises, Benin City to create the enabling environment that will guarantee the sustainability of the project. What is the vision behind the new complex and have the personnel to run it been recruited? What equipment have been purchased and what arrangements have been made to train those who will man them? How will the hospital be funded and will Edo people especially the poor be able to afford the services?
We appeal to the State government to engage the medical stakeholders to assist in designing a blueprint for the efficient running of the hospital otherwise it could be just another beautiful political project that could also, God forbid, die an untimely death. The State school of Nursing and Midwifery has been de-accredited because of lack of facilities and staffing arising from poor funding. In the absence of future nurses and midwives, what hospitals are we building? A hospital is more than just a beautiful building; it demands more of functionality rather than aesthetics. Equipment are essential for proper diagnostics; well trained and motivated personnel are required for efficiency and a health policy that provides for the poor while charging the rich must be enacted to allow our people rich or poor the benefits of the hospitals services. We cannot continue to lament the death of our young. ‪#‎TheFutureIsNow‬.

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