ɢᴏᴠᴇʀɴᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴀᴛᴛɪᴛᴜᴅᴇ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀʟᴛʜ sᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ: ᴡɪʟʟ sᴛʀɪᴋᴇ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴅɪғғᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇ?
Every desirable developed country is as a result of the rate at which the government invested in developing the country, the reality of my country is different. The most tragic thing about my country is that, it would have been tolerable if there was one aspect of the country the government is investing in, at least we would be able to use that as an excuse for the reason behind the general neglect of the welfarism of the country. Every inch of my country is currently going through a phase, there are no signs of development in any sector.
The most disheartening part is that, the core areas of the country is not excluded from this negligence. There are sectors in our society that are tantamount to citizens survival, One of those areas is the health sector. Gone are those days when leaders of other countries would leave their country to visit Nigeria hospitals for treatment. Those were the stories we heard but my generation is not really fortunate to witness such iconic days. The apple has fallen far from the tree ever since then, our situation is now similar to grace to grass.
How is the health sector in my country? I guess I should be grateful that I have little experience when it comes visiting any healthcare centres in my country. Everyone needs medical attention, especially those that falls ill from time to time but in my own case, I'm grateful to be as healthy as a horse because the more frequent you visit a place, the more you notice the lapses. Lucky for you, you don't need to go near the health centres in my country to notice the rate of degeneration in development. The conditions of the buildings in healthcare centres is enough to tell you all you need to know.
I have very few experience when it comes to visiting any healthcare centre in my country but even the few times I have been there, it was not a pleasant experience. Lets begin from the attitude of most healthcare centres receptionist or nurses, they are always in a bad mood. I get that work pressure is capable of frustrating employees but this is beyond that. It is like the working environment is not comfortable, in terms of salary and incentives. What else would be the reason why it is so easy for them to lash out on patients waiting in line for treatment? All I see is transfer of aggression.
Beyond that, there was a trending news few months ago. Apparently, an health worker shared a story of an hospital that used candles and torchlight to perform surgical operations. Most people thought it was just a made up story, it is very easy to disregard an information that you never witnessed. I would have thought it was a made up story too, till I witnessed the same issue in a community hospital in Oyo State. It sounds funny at first till we started thinking more deeply about it.
As a result of this low investment in the health sector, most medical practitioners believe the best way to achieve the best result in their field is by traveling out of the country. While patients with enough resources depend on medical treatment abroad and for patients without resources, have no choice but to endure what ever treatment they get here.
Will strike make a difference? One thing is for sure, it will definitely attract attention but that is all they would get. This is not the first time health practitioners had embark on strike to make a difference but in the end nothing was achieved. They only end up getting promised by the federal government, a promise that might never be fulfilled. If they are lucky, they might get a fraction of their demands and that is it. There are lot of political players in the health sector and they prioritise their own gain over the health workers.
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This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Doctors on strike in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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