Stakeholders in the health sector have blamed the rising rate of preventable deaths in Nigerian hospitals on lack of oxygen, inadequate medical facilities and increasing cases of negligence within the healthcare system.
They spoke during the Cure My Nation Initiative conference themed, “Health With Dignity for Every Nigerian: The Role of Government, Communities and Institutions in Safeguarding Patients’ Rights,” held at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan.
A Professor of Microbiology and National Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prof. Adenike Ogunshe, lamented that many healthcare facilities across the country could no longer provide basic emergency services needed to save lives.
According to her, the inability of hospitals to provide essential facilities such as oxygen has contributed significantly to avoidable deaths among patients.
She recounted how her younger sister allegedly died after a hospital refused to attend to her during an emergency because of inadequate facilities.
“It is painful that healthcare professionals now openly tell relatives they cannot attend to patients because there is no oxygen or other necessities. Why should a facility be called a hospital if it lacks basic survival tools?” she asked.
Ogunshe described Nigeria’s poor health indices, including high maternal and child mortality rates, as evidence of governance failure and lack of empathy by leaders.
She urged governments at all levels to invest more in healthcare infrastructure and prioritise citizens’ welfare, warning that continued neglect of the sector would further deepen the crisis.
The professor also challenged the media to intensify investigative reporting on challenges confronting the healthcare sector and amplify the plight of ordinary Nigerians.
Also speaking, the Team Lead of Cure My Nation Initiative, Mr. Mashood Adewale, said many Nigerians remained unaware of their rights as patients, thereby allowing medical negligence to persist unchecked.
Adewale, who established the initiative after allegedly losing his mother to a drug overdose in 2010, said awareness of the Patient’s Bill of Rights was gradually improving accountability among healthcare providers.
He disclosed that the organisation had introduced a digital application through which Nigerians could report cases of negligence and track complaints in real time.
The stakeholders further called on the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation to the health sector in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommended benchmark.
They warned that inadequate funding and poor infrastructure continued to weaken healthcare delivery across the country.
In his remarks, the Oyo State Director of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Mr. Olawale Akinyosoye, reiterated government’s commitment to protecting the rights of citizens.
He urged Nigerians to report cases of rights violations and medical infractions through the commission’s complaint channels.
