The health sector in my country - what are my thoughts? (Contest)

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Hello, everyone. I'm excited to be here, and this is my first post in this community. I decided to jump right into this contest because this topic brings a lot of emotions to the fore when I think about it. I believe that the issue of underfunding and inequitable distribution of healthcare resources in the Nigerian healthcare system has been over-flogged, so I will not dive into it even though I know that it is still a major issue in the Nigerian health system. I would like to speak on the aspect of lack of empathy on the part of healthcare providers and the existence of unfriendly policies in the healthcare system.

To drive home my point on this, I will cite an instance. In the Nigerian health care system there is a policy that states that patients who come to the hospital with bullet wounds cannot be treated or attended to until a police report is tendered to the hospital stating that the individual is not a criminal. In my opinion, this law is cruel and absurd because many innocent lives have been lost due to this. Many people who have been mere victims of stray bullets or robbery attacks, etc. have been denied medical care because of this policy and have lost their lives due to time wastage in trying to get police reports from the police.

During this time, the healthcare personnel turn a blind eye to the suffering patient and go on with their activities with no sense of empathy. They watch the patients die and feel no remorse. Due to this, many times, families have to take their loved ones to traditional healing centers or quack doctors to get the bullets removed and the wounds treated which many times are not successful because of lack of needed equipment and facilities. This begs the question, why would a system that swore to save lives and cater to the health needs of the citizens of a country agree with or turn a blind eye to government policies that thwart the very objective they swore to achieve? Why do they boast of compassion for the ailing when they show such a level of indifference?

I suggest that to tackle this issue, a page should be taken from the American healthcare system. Their policy demands that patients with bullet wounds be given emergency treatment first without any demand for the circumstances surrounding the injury. According to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labour Act (EMTALA), emergency departments are required to give immediate treatment to stabilize emergency patients first before even asking for their insurance status or cause of injury. It is after administering treatment that the healthcare providers are required to make a report to law enforcement authorities, who will then take over and carry out investigations. Healthcare providers even go as far as providing counseling programs and social support for patients who have suffered from bullet wounds.

These policies can be implemented in Nigeria too! I believe that if the healthcare providers in Nigeria can join hands with Nigerian citizens to refute the existing policies rather than accept them, changes can be made by the government. And the healthcare system in Nigeria can work hand in hand with the law enforcement authorities in a way that curbs the death tolls and trauma which emanates from gun violence, rather than contribute to it.

Another unfriendly policy in the Nigerian healthcare system is the Nigerian maternity leave policy of twelve weeks (three months), which, in my opinion, is insufficient for pregnant women to fully recover from childbirth and fully bond with their children. This can be tackled by implementing a new maternity leave policy giving pregnant women at least twenty-six weeks (six months) of paid maternity leave as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO). With the provision of support for child care during that period by the government. This will give the mothers enough time to recuperate from childbirth, resources to sufficiently cater to the needs of the newborn baby, and slowly return to work after the stipulated leave period.

These and many more are some of the unfriendly healthcare policies implemented in Nigeria. And I hope that with these few points, I have been able to express to you my opinion concerning the healthcare system in my country and the possible solutions that can be implemented; thank you.

I invite @abenad and @newbreed to join the community and participate in this contest.

The link to my X post.
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