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The Many Murderer Medical Centres

Written by Odimegwu Onwumere

Monday, 29 September 2008

Medical centres in Nigeria are inundated. Many of them harbour qualified medical practitioners, but the medical centres are under-staffed and ill-equipped. Very few of the hospitals in Nigeria can exonerate themselves from the shameful ineptitude one sees in the hospitals here. The Nigerian hospitals are institutions where formalities only exist on the pages of the newspapers. Many doctors and nurses wear un-uniformed attires to the hospitals, especially bathroom slippers. Most of the hospitals environment look unkempt and irritating that a first-time-comer to Nigeria that visited any hospitals here would easily be amazed to say if a patient sent to such hospital would not contract disease inlure of being cure of one.

Seldom does electric light shine in these hospitals – and patients are sent to the theatre and are operated of any kind. In such a dingy theatre-of-death, the only source of light some of the hospitals can boast of is the candlelight or lantern. One imagines the pains a patient undergoing surgery under an attic theatre is bound to pass through without any form of “cooler” device. And who cares if one dies in Nigeria or not?

Some of these doctors pose or accentuate themselves as demigods. In a case of emergency, it takes these ‘demigods’ a decade to attend to emergency cases. They do not have humanistic mind, perhaps seeing people die in their hospitals is one of the credits to elevate the name of a hospital than seeing people being treated?

These doctors pose, with different type of pens hanging on their crests. The nurses, who are many quacks, are lazy to sell the hospitals admittance cards to a patient. The card, in some hospitals, is even costlier than the money some government owned hospitals could collect in the case of certain ailments as medical bill.

When the patient obtains the card, it will take hours or a whole day to see the ‘demigod’. And if luck comes to the patient and he was able to see the ‘demigod’, the ‘demigod’ begins to ask questions, some are irrelevant at that moment, instead of diagnosing the patient to exactly understand the functions of the ailing patient’s system. What is the need of asking too many questions as if treatment is by gaze?

However, Africa as a whole is where malaria is overflowing. Many of the ‘demigods’ attribute any chest pain, waist pain, headache and son on to malaria parasite. Some of the medical tests are as bad as the many ‘demigods’ are. A patient could be diagnosed of malaria in hospital A, and hospital B would diagnose hepatitis. What confusion! What a heart-disorganizing story!

Government on its side is not even helping matter. In a case where the patient is treated and he dies, the government’s serious view would only be to close down the hospital, and the hospital re-opens for operation as the news mellows. But the closure doesn’t just happen; the government only comes into the matter when there is heated opinion in the country by critics or writers.

But before a hospital was set for operation, did the association or agency that governs hospitals or medical practitioners in Nigeria not approve the hospital fully understanding that the hospital or clinic is gravely inept of medical standard? What is the demonstration of sweeping the clinic or hospital if there is scope in the wheel it operates?

The ineptitude of many of these clinics and the conduct of the agency that approves them, has caused high rate of death among many Nigerians, ranging from maternal deaths to paternal deaths. These are caused by not only inadequate facilities, but the inhumane negligence of many ‘demigods’. This negligence has made love lost between patients and the ‘demigods’.

Perhaps, it’s the ‘demigod’ posture of these doctors or their half-bakeness that they are re-trained when they travel to work overseas. They are not even allowed to handle minor cases overseas, let alone, taking a patient to the theatre, till they are re-trained.

Notwithstanding, Nigerian doctors were once rated the finest in the whole world, but they are not the doctors at home. They are Nigerian doctors in the United States and in Europe or elsewhere, but not the ones at home.

While the doctors of Nigerian aborigine are extolled abroad, the home-based doctors have to be rehabilitated. They smile to the banks with huge sum of amount on a daily basis, whereas many families are left with huge indelible marks of their wards that have died in the hands of the many careless ‘demigods’ on a daily bases.

The doctors’ gains are Nigerians loss, as any person who calls himself a doctor (with certificate) can operate even from a mama-put joint and people will patronize him. There is no need to ask the government to commence action in checkmating these hospitals, but there is need for Nigerians to henceforth take protestants action against the many parastatals that hit people below the belt, including the government.

Odimegwu Onwumere, Founder, Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA). Rivers State. 08032552855. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Comments (1)

	1. Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 20-10-2008 17:22 - Guest
	Mrs. I want to start by commending your courage to publishing this article, well done. Meanwhile, generalishing sometimes is not good and not factual. In the case of Nigeria hospital and the `demigods`, it`s an issue to be sorted out. It worked out well in the oversea because the atmosphere is condusive for operation and learning. Every body in the medical team are given room to operate. Here in Nigeria, doctors beleive they are the only qualified personnel to attend to patient, neglecting the importance of others like nurses, lab. scientist, pharmacist,even the list , the cleaner. The culture in the hospital setting has to change . Everyone must be appreciated and well remunerated.Doctors alone can not do it, that is why we are facing this probleems in Nigeria health sector. Onceagain thanks for the observation.

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