Healthcare in West Africa

Healthcare in West Africa

            Every government has to provide sustainable healthcare services and facilities to its citizens. Even after independence, most African nations have poor and under-developed healthcare facilities, which cannot offer quality services to their citizens. There is still high mortality for patients with critical conditions since there no quality services available for them, and in case there are, they are too expensive for an ordinary citizen. This paper will discuss the post-independence condition of health in Nigeria, Ghana, and Niger.

Nigeria’s healthcare facilities are generally considered as poor since they got a poor supply of essential services such as blood and other medical supplies. The government employees and other employees in private sectors are entitled to a health insurance scheme, which is catered for by the employers (Anthony Iroju). The employees can use the insurance scheme to get the medical care they need without paying for the services. There are three levels of healthcare facilities in Nigeria, which include the state, federal, and local. There are many uncertainties in healthcare that make the cost of providing healthcare to keep on increasing, and the environmental conditions of the healthcare are highly dynamic.

The healthcare facilities in Nigeria got faced with numerous challenges that prevent growth and serve a wide range of its citizens. Such problems include; inadequate healthcare facilities and services- few healthcare facilities cannot provide quality services for all its citizens. The few available facilities have inadequate equipment and tools that, in most case, are unable to satisfy the needs of the patients. Lack of proper motivation for healthcare providers is also another challenge in Nigeria. Nigeria has a very high population, and the patient-doctor ratio is not even as one doctor is expected to serve a lot of patients, and this does not motivate them. In most cases, the healthcare providers lack the motivation to help the patients, and this leads to the provision of poor services to patients (Wall Barbra). Healthcare financing is not sustainable and equitable. Most people do not have access to the health insurance scheme, and even those who have it are required to chit in extra cash in case they want quality services. The insurance cover does not cater to all the needs of the patients, and they have to pay an additional fee, which most of them do not have.

1. Anthony, Iroju Opeyemi. “Understanding the Nigerian Healthcare Delivery System: A Paradox of Preventive Medicine since the Colonial Epoch.”
2. Wall, Barbra Mann. “Changes in nursing and mission in post-colonial Nigeria.” Colonial caring. Manchester University Press, 2018.

Ghana has many unaddressed health problems that put its population in great danger of contracting contagious and incurable diseases. Ghana still faces a lot of challenges in combating the spread of diseases such as pneumonia, chickenpox, measles, HIV and AIDS, typhoid, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and hepatitis. Most of these diseases are medically treatable, but the Ghana people rarely access medical treatment since they have a high belief in indigenous medicines (Adu-Gyamfi et al. 40). Many Ghanaians believe that traditional medications will cure them of such illnesses, and therefore, they rarely look for professional medical advisory. The trend has made it impossible to control the deaths of babies under the age of five years, and their mortality rate is still high in Ghana.

Other challenges that Ghana faces in the healthcare sector include; there are fewer medical providers in Ghana, and this has lead to a high ratio of patients and doctors. The few available healthcare providers are required to serve a wide range of patients, which in most cases, is not possible to cater to all patients (Adu-Gyamfi et al. 49). There are few healthcare centers in Ghana, and this makes it impossible for all people to access modern and quality medical care, that’s why they go for traditional medicines. Although the government has provided a national Health Insurance Scheme that caters to the medical expenses of the holder, most Ghanaians do not own the medical cover. It makes it impossible for them to access quality healthcare since they cannot afford it.

3. Adu-Gyamfi, Samuel, Edward Brenya, and Peter Nana Egyir. “Public Heath in Colonial and Post-Colonial Ghana: Lesson-Drawing for the Twenty-First Century.” Studies in Arts and Humanities3.1 (2017): 34-54.

Niger has the worst child and maternal mortality deaths in the world.  The numbers of pregnant women and children under the age of five years who die annually had been increasing until the Niger government started to provide free healthcare program. The program helps to cater for medical expenses for the antenatal and babies under the age of five years. The free healthcare program helps women to access services such as prenatal, deliveries, including the cesarean sections, free contraceptive services, and free treatment of uterus and breast cancers. The introduction of the free healthcare program has doubled the number of women and children accessing healthcare facilities, and this has reduced the mortality rates in a span of five years. There is also a reduction in the use of traditional medicines and self-medication, thus promoting healthcare for all (Koce Francis). Despite the significant progress in the provision of free healthcare, the program may fail due to a lack of funds. The Niger government seems to lack enough to support the free healthcare program, and this significant effect since most of the healthcare facilities under this program mostly have stock-outs of medicines, tools, and healthcare providers. The program has helped reduced maternal and children deaths, and it is the role of the Niger government to look for other ways to finance the program to ensure women and children do not suffer again.

4. Koce, Francis George. “Understanding healthcare self-referral in Niger state (Nigeria): the service users’ and healthcare providers’ perspective.” (2018).

Works Cited

Anthony, Iroju Opeyemi. “Understanding the Nigerian Healthcare Delivery System: A Paradox of Preventive Medicine since the Colonial Epoch.”

Wall, Barbra Mann. “Changes in nursing and mission in post-colonial Nigeria.” Colonial caring. Manchester University Press, 2018.

Adu-Gyamfi, Samuel, Edward Brenya, and Peter Nana Egyir. “Public Heath in Colonial and Post-Colonial Ghana: Lesson-Drawing for the Twenty-First Century.” Studies in Arts and Humanities 3.1 (2017): 34-54.

Koce, Francis George. “Understanding healthcare self-referral in Niger state (Nigeria): the service users’ and healthcare providers’ perspective.” (2018).