By Oby Ezekwesili
Still on our country’s broken Health Sector and System, are other people as worried as I am at how flippantly and frequently people would say- “The Lab or the Doctor said, “I have typhoid and malaria””?
We recently lost a loved one who was diagnosed and treated in hospital a number of times for “typhoid and malaria”. Worried at the frequency, we compelled a deeper investigation which discovered that his real ailment was not typhoid and malaria but liver and kidney failure.
Devastated at the scary but accurate diagnosis, we trusted God and worked with his family to give him everything possible in healthcare and prayer for his recovery.
Most painfully, our Timothy did not make it. In his passing, we lost a most effective and dedicated individual we have known for twenty-three years.
Even as a non-health expert I feel that something may be seriously amiss with the rate of Lab tests that return “typhoid-malaria” results leading to wrong hospital treatments and rampant prescriptions for patients.
The situation merits to be carefully studied by health researchers and experts because the scale may be fast reaching a high morbidity rate if not swiftly checked and arrested.
The Federal Government @NigeriaGov, Federal Ministry of Health @Fmohnigeria and the Nigerian Medical Association @nationalnma have a duty to collaborate and launch a rapid investigation into the prevalence of diagnostic results and hospital treatments for “Typhoid and Malaria”. We need research evidence that throws up useful data on the true state of affairs.
If the prevalence is found to be accurate, then the government, health experts, practitioners and stakeholders should cooperate to unearth and address the root causes of the scale of these twin maladies.
Then of course, present same to the Nigerian public for Citizens to also take responsibility as may be relevant.
True that Death is a given, but Avoidable Death must become an absolute No-No-No for us in this country especially in the Health and Security sectors.
To move all of these forward at a time that the Health Sector is at the top of public discussion, Citizens must act collectively to pressure our Federal @NigeriaGov and State Governments to effectively perform their constitutional responsibilities on healthcare services and security.
These two sectors are in shambolic shape and only collective action of citizens will compel the root and branch reforms that will prevent the indefensible death of any Nigerian.
The time is now.
. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili is Founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance
