Thank you, Dr Adirieje, for your post.
Although establishing a National Child Death Review and Accountability System is important for saving lives, improving the quality of care, and protecting Nigerian children, it is not a panacea for the profound failures of the Nigerian healthcare system. At best, such a system risks focusing on counting dead children rather than keeping them alive.
We are having this conversation now largely because the recent incident involved someone who could afford care, is well-known, and has a voice. Yet, for decades of medical practice in Nigeria, we have witnessed countless children, women, and men die who should not have died. Many succumbed because they could not afford care, presented late, or sought help from unqualified practitioners due to the prohibitive cost of medical services.
We have watched trained doctors leave Nigeria in large numbers for Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia, driven by poor hospital management, inadequate remuneration, and a persistent lack of political will to meaningfully reform the health system.
We have also watched those who could afford care die because the doctor on duty was absent, shelves were empty, emergency medicines were unavailable, critical care systems were nonexistent, or equipment was faulty or obsolete. We have seen patients die after reaching hospitals because doctors and other healthcare workers were on industrial action due to delayed salaries, unsafe working conditions, and dilapidated infrastructure. We have watched patients die even after meeting doctors because of physician burnout, weak support systems, and the absence of essential equipment and consumables. Others have died due to medical malpractice, negligence, and incompetence within an inadequately regulated system.
Nigerians continue to die from preventable causes for multiple, well-known reasons. If this unfortunate incident catalyzes a genuine overhaul of the healthcare system, one in which healthcare workers are adequately supported, infrastructure is rehabilitated, equipment and consumables are reliably provided, protocols and standards are enforced, and effective communication and emergency systems are established, then perhaps this death will not have been in vain.
We must stop performing outrage and start doing what is necessary. Nigerians have died, are dying, and will continue to die until government, communities, and individuals commit to sustained, systemic action.
Best regards,
Obinna
CHIFA profile:
Obinna O E Oleribe is Chief Executive Officer|E&F Management Care Centre, Abuja, Nigeria. Skype: Obinna. obinna.oleribeATexpertmanagers.org
Twitter: @OleribeO www.expertmanagers.org