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