Corruption, under funding, constant strikes and sever brain drain have left Nigeria’s health system constantly hanging at the edge of a major total collapse.

In May, 2015 the chairman of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, Dr. Adeyeye Arigbabuwo, said currently, Nigeria has just 9,000 doctors serving over 160 million people. He explained that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN has on their register 65,000 doctors, out of which 40,000 are practicing in the Diaspora.

Of the 25,000 doctors currently practicing in Nigeria, 16,000 are resident doctors who he said may decide to leave on completion of their training, leaving the country with 9,000 doctors to deal with a population of 160 million.

All these have left a lot of Nigerians scrambling, seeking any sort of service from a system that is near death itself. Invariably it stands to reason that the sensible way to ensure good health is to make sure one does not fall ill. It also helps to keep in mind that 50% of all illnesses are down to poor lifestyle choices and hence preventable.

Incidences of chronic diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer are rising in Nigeria. According the WHO, about 46% of adult Nigerians above the age of 25 have hypertension, and what’s even more startling is that only a third of people who have hypertension are aware they have the condition. The incidence of diabetes is currently about 5% and is expected to double over the next decade.

Wellness programmes are a group of activities and interventions that have been rolled out by human population health managers within private and public institutions, with the major aim of trying to prevent people from falling ill rather than taking action after they have become fallen prey to sickness.

[qoute]It makes a lot of sense for a country with a weak health system such as Nigeria to focus on preventive health measures rather than having its citizens only take note of their health status when they fall ill. Many of the chronic disease conditions such as hypertension only present themselves after they have already caused a lot of damage in the body over years, sometimes ending fatally.

“The figures are clear to see when wellness programmes are in place – fewer health visits, lower costs and better productivity. If the public and private sector could put in the same amount of effort that they did with our successful fight against the spread of the ebola virus, towards workplace wellness, will we most definitely see a huge positive step in the country’s health and economic statistics.[/quote]

It does not take much to put together a wellness programme, and it is a lot more cheaper than building a world class hospital or more. It is actually simpler to get people to become more aware of their health choices and empowering them, than to train doctors and nurses to treat them when they fall ill because they made bad choices.

[url]WellNewMe.com[/url]