Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP), says private hospitals in Nigeria are closing owing to the severe economic crisis.
ANPMP also revealed that the nation’s economic circumstances have caused numerous Nigerians to self-medicate, resulting in organ failure and, ultimately, death.
Dr. Odia Festus Ihongbe, Chairman of the ANPMP, stated in an exclusive discussion with journalists over the weekend in Abuja that morgues were filling up with corpses while hospital beds were empty.
According to him,
“People come only when it becomes critical and they just want you to do magic. And some want to die in the hospital, maybe because of confusion in their families.”
Dr. Odia stated that Nigerians now google their symptoms and purchase “drugs from chemists until it reaches the terminal stage.”
“Sometimes, we keep them outside and issue death certificates because if you don’t do that, they will come in and dump the body in your hospital and say they are going to look for money for burial.”
Odia went on to say that private hospitals cannot afford to pay the federal government’s recently approved N70,000 minimum salary due to a lack of income.
He said:
“How will the private sector pay the N70,000 minimum wage?
“Meanwhile the private sector employs 80 percent of doctors and nurses and other scientists, so we are more in number.
“If you have like eight to ten cleaners in your hospital, that’s already about N800,000. Who will pay that money?”
“We provide services to 80 percent of healthcare services in Nigeria yet the government does not show concern about developing the private sector.
“They do more lip service than giving us required attention. Whatever affects health, affects the private sector more.
“You have to provide accommodations for your workers, and pay salaries like any other businesses.
“We buy drugs and other heavy equipment and the prices of all these things are galloping every day.
“For instance, the oxygen machine that we used to buy for N25,000 some years ago, went to about N100,000 and we raised the alarm.
“Now the same machine is over N1.5 to N2 million. How do we survive it? These are even minor pieces of equipment.
“Now, the interest rate in banks is something else and no bank wants to help us because it’s not a ‘sharp sharp’ business,” he lamented.
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cc: Daily Post Ng
