Nigeria's healthcare system is collapsing under chronic underfunding and brain drain, leaving millions without access to basic care. Overcrowded hospitals and rural neglect exacerbate preventable deaths from diseases like malaria and childbirth complications. An opinion piece highlights the urgent need for reforms to prioritize health investment.
In a letter published in The Guardian Nigeria, Ngamarju Elizabeth Apagu, a 300-level Mass Communication student at the University of Maiduguri, describes Nigeria's healthcare woes as a 'national emergency' overshadowed by political and economic noise. She points to overcrowded public hospitals where patients lie on bare floors and doctors emigrate abroad due to poor conditions and low pay.
The core issue, Apagu writes, is chronic underfunding, with Nigeria failing to meet the 15% health spending benchmark from the Abuja Declaration. This results in poorly equipped hospitals, inadequate medical supplies, and essential drugs out of reach for many. The brain drain has seen thousands of skilled professionals relocate to the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States over the past decade, leaving remaining staff overburdened and causing fatal delays in treatment.
Rural areas suffer most, with dilapidated health posts and long journeys for care endangering expectant mothers and contributing to preventable deaths from childbirth complications, malaria, and cholera. The out-of-pocket payment model burdens low-income families, forcing choices between medical bills and basics like food and education. Many resort to self-medication or traditional remedies, often with tragic outcomes, amid delays in implementing a comprehensive national health insurance scheme.
Apagu urges immediate reforms: boosting health sector investment with transparent use of funds, offering incentives like better pay and working conditions to retain professionals, prioritizing rural health centers, and expanding insurance coverage. 'The health of a nation is the foundation of its progress,' she states, warning that neglect weakens productivity, deepens poverty, and threatens national security. Without action, Nigeria risks further suffering in silence.