’Poverty is responsible for poor healthcare’
What motivated and brought about this Free Health Mission?There are so many people that have health related challenges but they have been suffering in silence and I believe nobody wants to suffer in silence. That our people cannot visit hospitals as frequently as they desire due to poverty is unfortunate. We observed that they often […]
What motivated and brought about this Free Health Mission?
There are so many people that have health related challenges but they have been suffering in silence and I believe nobody wants to suffer in silence. That our people cannot visit hospitals as frequently as they desire due to poverty is unfortunate. We observed that they often resort to traditional healers and religious homes to get relief from their ailments. These are some of the issues among others about their plights that should agitate the minds of those of us who are leaders and I tried to render assistance.
Did you encounter any revelations from the Health Mission?
When we were planning, we never anticipated we would have the kind of turnout we had. We planned on seeing about 200 people per day but the doctors were attending to almost 1000 people each day, each of them coming with various ailments and diseases. There were so many startling revelations, an example is the 14-year-old boy that had syphilis and had infected his 13-year-old sexual partner. You see people with wounds that have refused to heal.
Patients that attended the event discussed about the effectiveness of the American drugs given to them. What lesson(s) do you think we should learn from that?
It was a big revelation for me. I think we will need to sit down with officials of the Ministry of Health and discuss the outcome of this project with them. It was shocking when I heard our people saying the imported drugs from US worked better. They found relief from long term ailments. We can no longer doubt the fact that there is something wrong with the medications coming into Nigeria and it is something we have to sit down and discuss and look for a lasting solution.
The ‘foreign’ doctors complained they have always wanted to come and help out but alleged that their offers were always rejected. What does that portend for the larger society and Nigeria as a country?
That is another shocking issue. It looked like the establishment on ground was not supportive to them. It appears our people always feel threatened easily. May be they thought the foreign doctors will come and take their jobs from them or expose their deficiencies.
But truly, these people are only interested in helping us improve in whatever area we are lacking as regards healthcare services. I too found some resistance here from the least expected quarters, which I will not like to elaborate upon but nobody can stop us from helping our people. That is why I must thank Governor Fayemi and his wife for being receptive to the idea and giving a lot of the support that was needed.
We just need open-minded people like them in government and things will work. The governor was supportive but some officials in the healthcare sector here were not. They even attempted to sabotage the programme. That was shocking to me.
Did you encounter any challenge before the programme finally became a reality?
First the imported drugs were seized by NAFDAC. I made contact with the agency’s leaders and they ordered that the drugs be released. Immediately after, Customs also seized the drugs and I had to fly to Abuja to get it released. Now, if this was organised by someone who did not have necessary contacts, it’s obvious the person’s effort would have been frustrated.
I am afraid that we might have turned away many foreign helpers that would have assisted our people. It is unfortunate that while someone is trying to solve a problem, some people are sitting somewhere frustrating your effort. However, we cannot give up, we must continue to press on because service to our people is paramount and we shall do whatever it takes to deliver the best services anywhere in the world to our people.
Looking at the appreciative faces of the people, it was difficult for the doctors to tell them it was time to leave, any plans after this?
We intend to make this an annual event. We also intend to make all our records available to the state government so that they can have a bigger picture of the problems facing our people and find lasting solutions. It is important that we review what we have done and see what lessons could be learnt to facilitate a better free health mission. That apart, I have also acquired a 40-foot truck which has been converted into a mobile clinic. We will employ healthcare providers that would work in the mobile clinic moving round the senatorial district to provide free health services, especially on market days.
Apart from the effectiveness of the drugs given to the patients, they equally praised the foreign doctors for being humane in treating them unlike our local doctors. Do you agree that we need laws that will ensure patients are treated humanely?
Yes, on three occasions that I was present during the free healthcare mission, they told me the foreign doctors were more humane. I think it boils down to having the right training and a conducive operating environment. We would do something about it. Someone needs succour and comes to you as a doctor and the best you could do is to yell at them or look at them condescendingly. It is bad.
Of course, they have laws in the US, which is good but before we can talk of such laws here, we must first ensure the doctors have what they need to perform their duties. If you as a doctor do not have adequate equipment, the right operating environment, welfare package, and training, you may not even know when you become aggressive towards the patient. So, we need a holistic reform of the health sector.
Of course, I have seen the areas where laws and regulations are needed urgently, and I will try and discuss these observations with the Chairman of Senate Committee on Health.