CHILD CARE AND MATERNITY HOMES/LICENSING

Referring to the last article on how to improve our health sector, this is the continuation but as a new topic on maternity care. So, the topic: "Child care and maternity homes/licensing" is an embodiment health sector or centres created to deal on child/Mother related emergency treatment. This type of health units was introduced in Nigeria as a British standard of treatment known as midwivery treatment by the colonial mastes. It was introduced as a medical trade but with old british style of treatment, their main objective was to see the welfare of pregnant women; though the medical operators trained as midwivery nurses were not profesdionals as medical doctors today because some of them were not highly educated as the medical professionals today. Therefore, they learnt as a trade to do the work of a gynecologist.

Now, the hit of the Biafran war between 1966 - 1970 made this trade the model centres for major medical cares in the south-south and South-East of Nigeria, mainly all pregnant women resorted to maternity homes for health services treatments. And as a result, there was high mortality rate of pregnant women due to lack of expertise. The unqualified gynae treatment received from this sector were not professionally like the ones obtained from the major hospitals today. So, it was risky for them to handle caesarean operations to pregnant women because they lack professional training on this. So any pregnant woman that undergoes the Caesar hardly survived it and majority of them gave up hope of survival once recommended for caesar. Even major professional health sectors like General hospital could not handle such critical cases as it is today, it either they cut one artery , forget scissors, needle, or razor blade in the womb which will trigger internal bleeding that leads to death of the patient later, even after survival. So, many Biafrans then could not receive professional medical care due to the civil war, some of them lost their lives while hiding  in the bush from the Nigerian soldiers. I can recall how my mother who was a practising nurse then trained by British medical personnel narrated to me her ordeal of experience in handling critical cases of pregnant women hiding in the bush from the attacks and captivity of Nigerian soldiers. One of the sad and pathetic story she shared with tears as her experience in the profession was how she lost a pregnant woman and her twine babies after safe delivery because there was no food to sustained them right inside the bush as a result of the war. According to her, she said the pregnant woman before putting to bed, she does not have enough blood to carry her through the delivery process but by God's intervention, she had safe delivery, but there was no food to sustain her and the twin babies. All effort she made to get milk and preserve the babies was futile, they only relied on breast feeding. But imagine twin babies feeding from a mother that ran shortahe of blood and infact it was critical situation for her because the Nigerian soldiers were blocking every route you can use public mobility to cross and buy anything from the main town Enugu which was the main capital territory of former Anambra state. The capital territory of the state had already been captured and invaded by Nigerian soldiers who were then plundering the Biafrans as refugees. So at certain point, the woman's body system began to change due to lack of blood as a result of malnutrition, the symptoms like swelling of body, especially the legs and the other symtoms of kwashiorkor. She had to give up, leaving the twine babies behind which she tried to cope in sustaining them in that critical condition right in mud houses in the bush. And the twin babies later lost their lives due to lack of feeding.

Then  there was nothing like good hospitals in operation because everybody was in a hide out from Nigerian soldiers, so this was how maternity homes became so popular in the remote areas of the state as a medium to solve both major and minor health related issues. And during those critical times, the maternity homes operations and treatment were no more limited to mother/child care treatments but it extended to adults treatment because of the civil war. These continued until 1969/1970 when the Biafran war ended. Now, from this point you can understand the benefits these maternity homes provided and why it is necessary when the need arises. So it is not good to shutdown maternity homes, instead the government should look in to their licensing.

Still on my mother's experience as a midwifery nurse, shel began to tell me those that she helped to put to bed as pregnant women after the civil war. Another similar story like the above paragraph. As of 1976 - 1977, the University Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu invited her and begged her to become one of their matron staff, but the husband who was bastardly rich as a transporter rejected the offer, now what brought about this offer? The reason was that a woman booked for a caesarean operation in the hospital went and delivered safely under her care. According to her, the baby was not well positioned to come out from the womb, and that was very risky attempt for any medical gynae to try to use safe delivery process for such cases. So, when the woman came to our house with tears and told her the situation of things at the dying minutes for the caesar operation because people hardly survived cesarean operation those days due to lack of experties and she sensed that she might not cope because almost 99% of those that undergone through the process lost their lives in the hospital due lack of profrssionalism. Then, at that critical time my mother does not know what to do, and after her diagnosis on her " she made a request that it is better she lost her life through safe delivery than after paying huge amount for the booked caesar, she still lost her life".  This statement made my mother picked courage knowing that she must definitely lose her life if she goes through caesar process because pepple hardly survived it those days. When her labor began that day, after some minutes behold the  baby came out with two legs instead of the head and because of her experience, she managed to save situation, though she started having ceaselessly bleeding, when my mother bundled her into my father's vehiecle and they conveyed her to UNTH where they stopped the bleeding. So her baby survived without any posture defect and the woman survived. This is why the medical doctors traced her and demanded for her services in the hospital. Still other experience like this one that made her more of professional midwifery nurse as a private and as consultant in some private hospitals as of then.

So, it is good to note that maternity homes treatment today are no more like those days because the treaments should be limited to emergency care like first aids treatmrnts especially for casualties, antinatal care, post natal care and drug prescription for babies/mothers as long as pregnancy is concerned. Other major treatment should be refered to the state and federal General hospitals for medical treatment like lab test and diagnosis before treatment. I think with this measure, we can adopt maternity homes as a medical medium to sort out a child/mother care health related issues in the local areas of the states in Nigeria. This is because you cannot operate maternity homes in the urban centre or developed township. Though the poor masses that like cheap medical services still patronize few maternity centres in the township due to poverty, irrespective of their deemed unprofessional and quack services in the modern society, the poor masses go to them for major treatments instead of emergency cases. And that is why their position is in local and remote areas of the state instead of operating in the civilized state capital.

Also, people misunderstand medical clinics to be maternity homes, please, they are not the same thing. A medical clinic is headed by a licensed professional doctor and must had been identified with Nigerian Medical Association. A clinic is a mini medical institution or hospital where medical advice and treatment are being given by medical professional. Especially where student doctors are taught by observation. Long live Nigerian Medical Association, long live federal ministry of health, long live federal Republic of Nigeria, Long live World Health Organization.

Written by:

ONYIA EMEKA HEATH
+2348186388641

THE NEED FOR STATUTORY IDENTIFCATION DOCUMENT FOR EVERY MAJOR INDEPENDENT AND MINOR DEPENDENT CITIZENS DECLARING ONE'S STATUTORY POSITION AND RESPONSIBILTIES AS A MEANS TO CURB CORRUPTION IN THE SOCIETY

Sorry for re-typing this article, it is because someone displeased with it gained illegal entrance to my account through network and delete it. Please,  I am demanding from google officials to remove the delete options in my post because I am not ready to delete any post.

THE NEED FOR STATUTORY IDENTIFCATION DOCUMENT FOR EVERY MAJOR INDEPENDENT AND MINOR DEPENDENT CITIZENS DECLARING ONE'S STATUTORY POSITION AND RESPONSIBILTIES AS A MEANS TO CURB CORRUPTION IN THE SOCIETY

Using Nigeria as case study, Nigerian is a nation comprising both major and minor citizens. The major citizens according to the constitution are those above 18 years who are no more dependent on parental care, they have come up to the age reasoning, especially to work and earn for their living as well as taking their own decisions as they wish. These calibers are responsible for everything they engage themselves as well as bear the burden of risk behind their ventures or decisions alone. They are deemed fit by the constitution as martured citizens to handle these. While Minor citizens are teenager of under 18 years who are still under parental care. These minor citizens are subject to their guardian for direction and dictation as well as provisions and supports for their prospects. This is where we get the first school leavers and WAEC holders. They are statutory students who are still under parental care, and their punishment is subject to their guardians as supported by the constitution. They are not entitle to enter legal contract of any kind because they are not deemed fit mentally sound by the constitution to execute it. This is why below 18 years are nt permited to cast vote in Nigeria or excercise their franchise. Another group that make up  the minors are the imbeciles, the lunatics (persons of unsound mind) and the insane persons. These class also cannot sign or initiate contract talk more of executing it. One thing about these minors is that you cannot sue them based on any offense or ommission they commit contrary to the constitution neither are they empowered to sue because they are not yet mentally appreciated by law to do that.

Now, based on the above facts, there is need for every citizens to possess a statutory declaration document of one's responsibility to oneself, one's state and nation and the society at large. This is a means to minimizr and curb corruption because so many people move about predating illegally on what belongs to other citizens who are responsible in their own fields. The reason for this is that it is good you define what is your hobby with objectives by statutory court affidavit and Identity card issued by government or private sector you are responsible to, as means or medium of earnings. This will help to know who is joensing as a robber and who is actually responsible working for the good of the society and the nation. These statutorily documents does not exempt  your trade certificates, your university  degree certificate, Your Duty ID Card either as an apprentice or company staff. Events should possess ID Card that you are still in the school. The need for this is to stop giving rooms to idle moments or idleness, when someone does not have focus on a specific assignment that person will not know when he/she begins to step on people's toes out of ignorant just because he he/she has nothing doing or has deviated from his own wing of primary objectives. One can achieve this by unnecrssary gossip, especially on how to plunder what belongs to others, but that is a lazy persons ideology, but if you can study and analyze such habits, you will com to understand that lawlessness degenerates from not having something good to lay hands as a handiwork and make good money to better living.

So, there is need for every citizens to engage in a meaningful work to keep life comfortable. This is why people go to school, learn a good trade and become focused on their fields so that they can make money with it to sustain life rather than eyeing what belongs to others that worked hard to achieve. This type of habitats constitute the route to fraudulent activities in this nation Nigeria leading to what is called ghost working in civil service in Nigeria. You see one person as a senior official doing the work of 5 persons who are being paid the same salary range. The Nigerian Police Force should endeavor to look into this demands, and make sure that every citizens have a statutorily court drclaration identity specifying one's duty, activities and other events as a major bonafide citizen of Nigeria, even with an identity card or driving license, this is because many notorious citizens moves around everywhere at the odd hours of the day looking where and how they cam take what belongs to others unnoticed. More especially in this digital age where people make use of ICT gadget to steal even from financial institutions like banks and other finance houseshouses. So there is need to chek if one is empowered by certifications tp enter online business transactions 24/7. There are some certificate to check like CISCO ( CCNA), that empowers ICT professionals as well as Web Devrlopment Certificate from reputable institution that proves that your duty post is online and that you are professionally empowered to operate online. Anything short of this, the person remains a suspect if he operates online business 24/7 without company ID Card empowernment from His company or a distant learning ID card from your school overseas. Anything short this, thevperson should be deemed a fraudster if he/she uses online as a medium for making money outside Teleworking. Teleworking means working online from your comfort zone as well as earning from the company you are working for, may be overseas or within the country but it must be far distance transanctions before engaging it as teleworking.

Just like my previous article, I wrote about enslavement and forced labor contrary to section 34 of Nigeria constitution, neglecting this statutorily declaration steps to curb the corrupt practices of non-entities can result to inhuman and degrading treatments especially to innocent citizens who may be ignorant of such corrupt hidden activities. Based on this facts, let us join hand fight corruption in our nation. Also you are free to comment on this atticle as empowered by section 39 of Nigerian Constitution. Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria, long live Nations of the world.

Written by:

ONYIA EMEKA HEATH
+2348186388641

THE NEED TO REHABILITE AND RESTRUCTURE HEALTH CENTRES IN UNDER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

There is drastically need to rehabilitate as well as restricture health units in under developed nations using specifications by world Health Organization in collaboration with the federal ministry of health of any nation. Using Nigeria as a case study to this article,  we are in a country that practise capitalism as an economic system, where the private individuals are empowered to own assets for their own personal and business outfit. In a nutshell, capitalist nation like Nigeria is the one where the power to economic investment is licensed to both the goverment and private individuals to manage as well as improve the economy. This is why in health sector in Nigeria, 70% of the hospitals are in the hands of private propriators who are medical professionals. But there is need to regulate such empowerment to the health sector to avoid abuse of W.H.O stipulated standard because if neglected, it can degenerate to inevitable abuse to Medical profession in the nation.

This is why, profrssionally, some medical practioners are not qualified to own a hospital because they are still inexperienced and do not possess the required skills to meet up with demands of treating patients with critical cases, and as a result, people lose their lives in the hands of unskilled medical professional. Even when a doctor is certified as a professional, does not give him the right to own a hospital until He serves under major hospitals for reasonable years for instance, not less than 25 years so that He/she can acquire the needed skills to handle critical cases and it is also necessary on accomplishing this for example given after 25 years of service, a statutory medical examination body should be set up to test their experience, after which they pass the exam, they will receive an empowerment certificate to operate their own hospital. I think adopting such measures will help to reduce the mortality rate of sick patients in the country.


On the other hand, is the idea of restructuring and rehabilitating the existing structures in our Federal, State and private hospitals in Nigeria, as this will help to create a healthy environment free from anxiety and fear of unknown that sometimes make sick patients lose hope of survival. The adage says that "cleanliness is next to godliness", some hospitals in the private sector and even some government hospitals are so dirty that even patients die of unnecessary infection to their wounds or injuries, especially the patients that undergo surgery or cesarean operation are exposed to these infections if they are not well protected with disinfectants where they stay. To solve this problem, the   hospital units should deploy the help of ward maids as well as cleaners who will always see that that disposables, toilets, hospital equipment, kitchen utensils, ward floor, bathroom, bedsheets, pillow etc are well kept clean daily for good ventilation in hospital environment. The  bedsheets should be washed and changed regularly, especially when soiled with sweat, as these will help to keep the improvement on the recovery of the sick patients.

Still on equipping the hospital is the need for internet detecting crimes camera (IP Cameras), which should be mounted sectetly to record events and activities that goes on right inside the wards especially rooms where one or two patients stay. This is because, it is not all visitors that come to see a patient in a hospital with good intentions, some has secret agenda to execute. Like evil intention of eliminating a patient in critical conditions like koma,  series of crimes issues like this were recorded in overseas hospital before the digital age whereby political aspirant deemed for a position became critically ill and His political opponents targeted to eliminate him secretly in a sick bed while in the hospital but because the nurses where alert to set alarm machine to detect when danger occurred. And this arrested the situation. So every activities in the hospital should be monitored carefully as well as recorded with the help of digital IP Cameras mounted secretly on the walls or ceilings.


 These measures sometimes are hardly carried out duty by some modern hospitals today due to lack of expertise in training the current nurses to compair those ones trained by British colonial masters before 1960 Nigeria got their independent from British colonization. The issues of negligent to sick patients by Nigerian mordern nurses is a bad habit due to corruption ravaging the nation, today in Nigeria because every citizen must be bribed to perform his official duty, especially the ones occupying sensitive positions, and as a result to this habit, their salary they receive is never enough. So they rely so much in eye service  to benefit money from the public while performing  their official duties as demand. Now, the question is if bribery and corruption  can penetrate even health sectors  that means there is endeamic corruption in other less sensitive sectors that degenerate to what is called ghost working today.

Still on attitudes of hospital nurses towards their patients in Nigeria to compair with that of foreign nurses in the US and Europe, you will see that the international nurses are inducted especially towards responds to critical emergency cases like casualties. When you watch the way they respond to emergency cases brought to their hospitals with agility and sharpness will tell you that these are well trained and inducted nurses for example: the way they fute oxygen to revived a patient that has almost collapsed for survival treatment is a measure for under developed nations to emulate. I always witness the foreign nurses in telecast like CNN running with an unconcous casualties on a stretcher to the emergency ward to fute oxygen before they give up the last breath. This type of demonstration deserve an applaud because it shows that they value life more than money. But in Nigeria, the doctor will give instruction not to touch the patient in the emergency world until first deposit is made to their account section, before one finish depositing the money, the patient has given up. But that idea is wrong, please endeavor to save life first before money follows, note that the health sector duties is more of charity than other sector, and should be performed with passion, and that is why doctors and nurses attract the highest respect and remuneration in every economy of any nation before considering other srctors.


Again, is the issue of locating mortuary inside the hospital premises. If Federal ministry health should give specification for mortuary location in Nigeria as well as make it a statutory and mandatory laws to all private and government hospitals, I think that it will help to reduce the anxiety such create on sick patience, especially when a mortuary is located right inside the hospital environment where sick patients are being treated. I have discovered that the mortality rate of sick patients in a hospital that has mortually are high to compare to the ones that do not have mortuary located right withen its prrmises. And I also disvovered that the reason is anxiety. The adage says: "anxiety is the disease of the spirit", for instance, a patient suffring from high blood pressure (BP) should not be rushed to such hospitals thay has mortuary in its environment, remembering it alone can send such patient to instant grave yard because the fear it creates alone on such patient causes breakdown like stroke. This is why specifications for mortuary location is mandatory for private health sectors.


Another point of discussion is the need to improve the pharmaceutical sector, some government hospitals do not have pharmaceutical stores, even when they have one, it is poorly equiped. The hospital pharmaceutical stores should be the best in every state in a country like Nigeria. And the pharmaceautical  stores should be supervised by NAFDAC and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) to make sure they phase out all fake, sub standard, expired, unquarantined and imitation drugs and consumable products. As these has caused lost of lives in the past. Meeting these demands will help to reduce the death or loss of lives through drug abuse and neglect.

The next agenda is the need to improve on our doctors and their hospital equipment. Nigerians are tired of flying their patients to India just to receive some special medical treatments from deemed professional medical professors who are expertise in cases like cancer treatment. Now, when will Nigeria improve on this standard? This is why the federal ministry of health in colloboration with World Health Organization (WHO) should organize special training/Seminars with Nigerian doctors as an international relation to western doctors especially on how to operate digital age equipment in treatment of their patients, this is because the age of analog doctors are over and outdated, what is obtainable today in western world is digital treatment whereby computer gadgets are deployed for every treatment. What human brain does in diagnosis, test, surgery, caesarean etc are now programmed in sophistcated machines that uses panels, keyboard and remote control as centre of manipulation and control. And hardly mistakes occur because it is being monitored during operation 24/7. Now, this is the need for our federal and state hospitals to graduate completely from analog to digital treament. And in order to achieve this, there is need to import some of these mordern computerized hospital equipment needed to improve lives of patients in Nigeria and to avoid them travelling out overseas for special treatment. Now, by the time Nigeria comes upto this standard, one need not to travel to Western world for special treatment and it will reduce cost of treatment for those that travels out often especially pregnant women and those undergoing heart surgery or other sophisticated surgeries needed for a patient to survive. This travelling is because we have not gotten what it takes for a patients to survive those critical conditions or problems like the developed world.

Still on the improvement of our medical doctors, there is need for ICT training in order to apply computer aids equipment effectively, as a measure for diagnosing sick patients for treatment. Look, we are tired of old fashion doctors that adopt guesses only as a measure for drugs administration to their patients when they assumes the symptoms to be something else. So today, we have gadgets for computer test that runs in seconds even with laboratory process and it is accurate. But when the case prove critical, a digital medical doctor that is ICT equipped can apply the aids of WHO websites as well as Google engine optimization as a measure for diagnosis in order to solve critical problems that demands immediate attention which have defiled locally solutions applied to save life of a patient. The needed ICT gadgets for these quick information diagnosis Iphone, Ipad, Android, Notebook. Tablets, Laptop etc. with 24/7 internet connectivity. Intact, a hospital environment should possess a 24/7 wireless internet access and this is what they can achieve by Ku-band wireless internet dish well configured to give everyone access to the internet while on hospital environment. So, with this doctors can get quick answers to their questions than going to search for solution from medical encyclopaedia that will take him/her the whole day or week before getting solution to a particular symtom that demands immediate attention. Again, the old fashion treatment is fast phasing out and there is need for the old fashion doctors to undergo training.


Another major pandemonium is the strike of the incurable COVID 19, that keeps the whole world at house hostage, even till date, after series of hypothesis and lab tests discovery for the solution to the virus  which is still invoke ravaging with high mortality rate all over the world. Now, who can foretell the end?

Also, there should be sophisticated machines for screening of blood bank before blood transfusion to anaemic patients that need blood donors. This is a sensitive part in hospital setup in order to avoid unnecessary virus contamination to patients that need blood transfusion. In the cases of casualties and other cases of stroke patients who did not meet up to be admitted to the hospital, there should be necessary provisions for emergency treatment at the point of entrance or admission just to rescue critical situations and save the lives of patient who did not meet up to be admitted. The required treatment like first aid treatment, futing of oxygen to the patient in Koma, intraveinous drip, drips etc should be made available at the emergency ward.

Finally, with these measures, I think we have gotten what it takes to be number one nation in medical profession. Long live Nigerian Medical Association, Long lives Federal Republic of Nigeria, Long lives World Health Organization. On our next article I will be discussing on "CHILD CARE AND MATERNITY HOMES/ LICENSING". Please I need your suggesting comments on how to improve our health sector based on section 39 of Nigerian constitution.

Written by:

ONYIA EMEKA HEATH
+2348186388641