Silent suffering: Healthcare Inequality in Nigeria

Lagos the centre of excellence in Nigeria amidst the tall buildings and a big shadow of healthcare inequality casts upon the city's most marginalized residents.

This story is one I experienced while being a victim and witness at the same time, It's one I decided to write about . Basic healthcare is something all humans should have access to but in Nigeria it's something only the Rich and privileged seem to enjoy while the less privileged are ignored.

Firstly, My best friend Camilla had succumbed to leg injury from hitting her foot at home so she had to see a doctor urgently so we decided to visit our university medical centre. When we got to the medical centre we noticed a long queue so we were told to wait in line. Camilla was in distress. The nurses could see how much pain she was in from her expression but they ignored her.So it finally got to her turn and to her disappointment the nurses told us they had no forms left for new patients to fill so we decided to take our leave.

So we went to the national orthopedic hospital, igbobi, Lagos. Getting there we had to go through normal procedure and fill some forms. We were told by the nurses the doctor will see us in 30 minutes. While we waited we noticed a young girl and an old woman rushing into the hospital looking at them I realized the young girl had succumbed to serious leg injury and she was bleeding profusely immediately I rushed to assist her into the hospital onto a long bench. So the old woman, assuming she's her mother, told the nurses about her current situation and they told her the doctor wasn't available to attend to her at the moment when they could see the young lady bleeding. After waiting for about 20 mins she was called in ahead of Camilla as her situation was more of an emergency. I was amazed at the unprofessionalism that occured in a government facility

So after some minutes Camilla was called in to see the doctor and she came out with a prescription. She was directed by the doctor to go to the pharmacy . Frustratingly they didn't have the drugs so Camilla and I decided to take our leave as we felt we had wasted our time coming to the hospital.

Furthermore, Storming out of the hospital out of frustration we met the young girl and her mother from earlier and her mother thanked us for our assistance. We had to take a long walk to the gate because the Uber I had ordered was stopped at the gate. Apparently only private cars and tricycles were allowed into a public hospital.

So we trekked to the gate and coincidentally we met the young girl and her mother at the gate as they had been stopped by the security guards.They wouldn't let the tricycle for whatever reasons they had when it was obvious the young girl was in excruciating pain. The old lady began to cry and beg the security at the gate to let them out as they didn't have any other means of transportation home yet they refused.So the mother assisted her daughter as they proceeded out of the government hospital.

While we had to find where the Uber driver had parked my attention was mainly on the young lady and her mother looking at both of them struggling to cross a two lane express road right in the middle of the day under a crazy hot sun that made me tear up. I thought of how countless people suffered this same thing

They allowed private cars into the government facility but couldn't allow a tricycle to get out. This is all due to the government's ignorance for the less privileged. 70% of Nigerian citizens are stricken by poverty so the majority of them cannot access good healthcare and it is a heartbreaking reality.

A country's development Is measured by the wellbeing of the majority of its citizens. This story urges the government, communities to come together and pursue a fair and inclusive health care system where the majority can get access to quality health care and their life is valued.