Declining State of the Nigeria Health System
From Nigeria’s independence in 1960, traditional medicine had been a big part of the health care system in Nigeria focusing mainly on the curative, rather than preventive care. In the years following the independence, about 10-15% of the Nigerian population was covered by any form of modern health care services. These services were concentrated in the urban areas to the detriment of the rural areas. At that time, only about 50% of the urban population had access to health care and only about 5% in rural areas. Considering the fact that 90% of the population was rural at the time, the direness of the situation could not be more evident. Sadly, the situation has not changed very much even today; it …show more content…
In developed countries like the USA for instance, the value is 8 out of 100,000, whereas, in Nigeria, it went from 800 in 1988 to a disturbing value of 1100 today. This value shows that Nigeria contributes 10% of the world’s maternal deaths. It is sad to think that in a country with a population of about 150 million people, about 53,000 women die every year. Population: Nigeria's population at Independence in 1960 was estimated at 46 million. In 30 years, the population reached 110 million. It is estimated that the population growth rate between 1965 and 1980 was 2.5%; but between 1980 and 1990, the growth rate is about 3.5%. The current growth rate is about 4%, 4 times higher than in the USA and 6 times higher than in Japan. Nigeria is the tenth most populous nation in the world with a population estimated at 150-160 million. One out of every four Black Africans is a Nigerian.
Summing up the above indicators to other ones such as the population factor, poor immunization schemes, bad government allocation of budget and other detrimental factors, it is safe to say that the Nigerian health care system needs a lot of major improvement and the government, health care providers, and their associations have a lot to do in order to ensure good health care for the Nigerian
From Nigeria’s independence in 1960, traditional medicine had been a big part of the health care system in Nigeria focusing mainly on the curative, rather than preventive care. In the years following the independence, about 10-15% of the Nigerian population was covered by any form of modern health care services. These services were concentrated in the urban areas to the detriment of the rural areas. At that time, only about 50% of the urban population had access to health care and only about 5% in rural areas. Considering the fact that 90% of the population was rural at the time, the direness of the situation could not be more evident. Sadly, the situation has not changed very much even today; it …show more content…
In developed countries like the USA for instance, the value is 8 out of 100,000, whereas, in Nigeria, it went from 800 in 1988 to a disturbing value of 1100 today. This value shows that Nigeria contributes 10% of the world’s maternal deaths. It is sad to think that in a country with a population of about 150 million people, about 53,000 women die every year. Population: Nigeria's population at Independence in 1960 was estimated at 46 million. In 30 years, the population reached 110 million. It is estimated that the population growth rate between 1965 and 1980 was 2.5%; but between 1980 and 1990, the growth rate is about 3.5%. The current growth rate is about 4%, 4 times higher than in the USA and 6 times higher than in Japan. Nigeria is the tenth most populous nation in the world with a population estimated at 150-160 million. One out of every four Black Africans is a Nigerian.
Summing up the above indicators to other ones such as the population factor, poor immunization schemes, bad government allocation of budget and other detrimental factors, it is safe to say that the Nigerian health care system needs a lot of major improvement and the government, health care providers, and their associations have a lot to do in order to ensure good health care for the Nigerian