Some public hospitals in Nigeria are reportedly battling obsolete equipment while some medical facilities have none.
Patients with cancer and other terminal ailments are reportedly being subjected to needless wait before receiving treatment.
Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) president Dr Francis Faduyile apparently confirmed the spate of healthcare in Nigeria in an interview with Punch.
His words: “We have eight teaching hospitals in Nigeria with radiotherapy centres – Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba; University College Hospital, Ibadan; National Hospital Abuja, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu; University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin; Usman Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital, Sokoto; and the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe – but about four of them are not in a functional state currently.
“The cancer treatment centre in the University College Hospital, Ibadan; Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe; the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin and that of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, are not functioning at the moment.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority/ LUTH cancer centre that was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari, on February 9, 2019, is expected to open on May 1.
Asked to comment on the consequence of dearth of radiotherapy machines on patients, the NMA president said:
“It is obvious that anybody who has cancer in Nigeria currently is doomed to die because some of them have to go to Ghana, some of them have to go to India, but those who cannot afford to travel abroad will have a long wait and by the time it is their turn it must have gone beyond redemption, most of them die miserable deaths.”
Faduyile said radiotherapy service shortage had increased morbidity and mortality and hiked medical tourism.
