The latest Legatum Prosperity Index placing Nigeria among the countries with the poorest health care infrastructure calls attention to the longstanding crisis in the sector.
Development Diaries reports that due to its inherent systemic problems, Nigeria sits closely behind the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Chad as the countries with the most difficult access to and infrastructure for health care.
This point of view emphasises the severe consequences of systemic problems that have lasted for decades and caused terrible health care outcomes for a large segment of the Nigerian populace.
Such a low ranking exposes critical gaps in Nigeria’s capacity to deliver even basic health care services, affecting health indicators like life expectancy and quality of life.
The root causes of this situation are found primarily in years of underfunding and policy inconsistencies that have crippled Nigeria’s health care framework.
Public funding, which should ideally be directed toward health care infrastructure, medical supplies, and disease prevention, instead predominantly goes to salaries, leaving little for development and maintenance.
These funding patterns leave Nigeria’s health care system perpetually unprepared to handle even preventable diseases, with infrastructure that falls short of global standards.
Without substantial budgetary adjustments and policy reforms, Nigeria’s health care system is unlikely to see meaningful improvements, and citizens will continue to lack essential services and facilities.
Additionally, Nigeria’s healthcare system suffers from a severe shortage of health care professionals. Many trained doctors, nurses, and other skilled personnel migrate to countries with better resources, remuneration, and working conditions.
This brain drain leaves hospitals and clinics understaffed and unable to provide adequate care, particularly in rural areas where healthcare access is already limited.
Addressing this shortage requires not only improved remuneration but also incentives and policies to retain medical professionals within the country.
There is also the direct impact such shortages have on maternal and child health, contributing to Nigeria’s high rates of child and maternal mortality.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently reported a maternal mortality rate of 576 per 100,000 live births, the fourth highest on earth.
UNICEF further stated that pregnancy-related health problems are disproportionately prevalent among 40 million women of reproductive age in Nigeria (those between the ages of 15 and 49).
Without substantial reforms in funding and policy focus, Nigeria risks further deterioration in its health care standing and, most importantly, in the health and well-being of its citizens.
To improve health care outcomes, Development Diaries calls on the Muhammad Ali Pate-led Ministery of Health and Social Welfare to prioritise health care spending with a focus on developing infrastructure, ensuring access to vaccines, and implementing widespread public health initiatives.
In addition to boosting health care funding, the government should implement incentives to retain health care professionals and strengthen rural health services, particularly maternal and emergency care.
Investments in preventive health care, such as improving sanitation and tackling endemic diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, are also critical.
