What 10 Billion Naira can do for the Nigerian people: by Chinedu Egwuonwu
By NigeriaPlus July 26, 2010
A Standard Emergency Room - Not too much to ask for, in nation of 150 million people
Few years ago, a legislator suffered a heart attack in the house of assembly and went into cardiac arrest, he was rushed to the national assembly clinic, where they ONLY set up an intravenous (IV) infusion (aka drip), before taking him to the National Hospital. He died of course. Ironically, he happened to be the Chairman of the House Committee on Health!
One must wonder if he would have died if he had done his job right.
Our world ranking in public health delivery by the Word Health Assembly is so bad it is ridiculous, 187/191. Life expectancy in Nigeria is at an all time low of 47 years. Millions of people die every year simply because they happen to be either Nigerians or IN Nigeria!
Nigeria currently allocates only about 4% of the annual budget to Health, an irony considering that Nigeria is a signatory to AFRICA PUBLIC HEALTH 15% PLUS campaign which took place in ABUJA in 2001 by member states of the African union. They agreed that at least 15% of their annual budgets would be allocated to health.
Medical procedures like chemotherapy, dialysis and surgery generally are very expensive and that is why medical insurance is in place to take care of people in the developed world. In Nigeria however, the situation is different, if you develop these conditions and you cannot afford the treatment, YOU DIE.
Hospitals in the western world are equipped to cater to the needs of their patients, they are armed to the teeth because they realize that life is priceless. Nothing holds greater value. If you die there, you have no reason not to rest in peace because they would have done their best, everything humanly possible to save you.
In Nigeria, we have highly qualified medical personnel to take care of patients, we however DO NOT have the necessary machines that can very easily detect problems and save lives in our hospitals.
Standard Ambulance Services will Save Lives and Create Jobs
Diagnostic machines like CT Scanners, MRI Scanners, and emergency machines like Defibrillators that are used in the west, as standard procedure and are found in most hospitals, are rare in Nigeria. CT and MRI scanners are found here at the rate of one (1) per geo-political zone, so, do the math.
Ambulance and paramedical services can create a whole new medical department with thousands of jobs for young people in the medical field. They all don’t have to be doctors, nurses or midwives.
10 Billion Naira is = 66 Million Dollars and can provide either of the following
| Medical equipment | Quantity | Average Quantity per state(FCT included) | Estimated Price for one machine ($) |
| Equipped Ambulance | 667 | 18 | 100,000 |
| MRI Scanners | 33 | 1 | 2,000,000 |
| CT scanners | 330 | 9 | 200,000 |
| Ventilators | 8,250 | 223 | 8000 |
| Oxygen concentrators | 66,000 | 1,784 | 1000 |
| Defibrillators | 44,000 | 1,189 | 1,500 |
| Patient monitors | 6,000 | 162 | 11,000 |
In light of this, the Federal Government of Nigeria has decided that the best way to utilize almost 10 Billion Naira is to celebrate 50 years of independence, effectively throwing a party with 66 Million Dollars to celebrate 50 years of failure and suffering for the majority of Nigerians.
This is happening in the face of abject poverty and hunger, in the face of dire joblessness, in the face of a general lack of confidence in the pubic health system, and in the face of total hopelessness.
I guess it can happen, ONLY IN NIGERIA.
