Do more on poverty, health & economy

While I was training as a doctor, one of our lecturers used to speak to us on the need to learn and prepare ourselves to be good doctors (especially with respect to obstetrics) as much as possible. He explained that some people who behave irrationally were not doing so intentionally but because they had been […]

While I was training as a doctor, one of our lecturers used to speak to us on the need to learn and prepare ourselves to be good doctors (especially with respect to obstetrics) as much as possible. He explained that some people who behave irrationally were not doing so intentionally but because they had been asphyxiated at birth. Birth asphyxia occurs when the baby could not breathe well at birth, leading to the body tissues being starved of oxygen. But it is more obvious with the brain. Babies who suffered birth asphyxia and who were not adequately managed for it end up with varying degrees of mental incapacitation. 

The connection between poverty, ill-health and the economy has been well explained in different literatures. The healthier the citizens, the more they can contribute to national growth and development. Poverty perpetuates ill health, leading to a negative effect on the economy and then perpetuating poverty.  It is a vicious cycle. 

Poor people have diminished access to healthcare and this coupled with their ignorance and poor education hinders them from making the best health decisions. So the poor will keep giving birth at home and at places without skilled birth attendants, increasing the chances of mishaps like birth asphyxia and other neonatal morbidities. These children hereby bridled by poverty, poor education and reduced mental capacity are unable to adequately fend for themselves and live a more productive life. And because of their ignorance and poverty they also give birth to children without skilled birth attendants, risking birth asphyxia again, thereby continuing the cycle from generation to generation. Also as a result of poor nutrition (occasioned by their poor financial state), the ones who escape birth asphyxia are doomed to malnutrition which also affects their mental development. 

The result? Nigeria keeps churning out a young population, that cannot effectively contribute to national growth and development. Our population which should be an asset is now like a curse. And as long as this cycle continues we will keep producing citizens who will end up as liabilities to the nation, which is why we need to rethink the concept of healthcare as not just that of going to the hospital to get treatments, but as a far reaching concept that affects every aspect of our lives, our wealth and the growth of the nation.

The government must ensure that they vigorously work towards ensuring that most deliveries are handled by skilled birth attendants. The government must also put in place policies both in healthcare and agriculture that will ensure food security. It should formulate and enforce policies that will ensure universal health coverage so that both poor and the wealthy can access the healthcare they need. 

The results of these steps may not be immediate but in the next few years, we will have healthier people and in fact a healthier nation. 

 Dr. Ayomide Owoyemi wrote from Lagos