A series of harrowing cases of allegations of medical negligence, including the death of novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 21-month-old son, has ignited a fierce debate about patient safety and systemic failures within Nigeria’s healthcare system.The family of the internationally acclaimed author says her young son, Nkanu Nnamdi, died last week at a private hospital in the main city, Lagos, following a short illness.They allege the child was denied oxygen and excessively sedated, leading to cardiac arrest.The hospital extended its “deepest sympathies” but in a statement denied any wrongdoing, stating its treatment met international standards.The Lagos State Government has ordered an investigation into the death, as public outrage spread over the state of healthcare in Africa’s most populous country.Just days later, anger surged once more after the death of Aisha Umar, a mother of five who ran a business from home, selling incense and fish in the northern city of Kano.Her family alleges a pair of surgical scissors was left inside her abdomen during an operation in September at the state-run Abubakar Imam Urology Centre, leading to four months of severe pain and her eventual death.”For four months, they only gave her pain relievers,” her brother-in-law, Abubakar Mohammed, told the BBC.”Scans finally showed the scissors were inside her,” he said.The family says they plan to sue the facility for negligence.The Kano State Hospitals Management Board said it had “suspended three personnel directly involved in the case from clinical activities with immediate effect”, and has referred the case for further investigation and disciplinary action.”The Board reassures the public that it will not condone negligence in any form and will continue to take decisive actions to safeguard the lives, dignity, and trust of patients across all state health facilities,” a spokesman added in a statement issued on 13 January. Dr Mohammad Usman Suleiman, president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (Nard), told the BBC that the issues were “systemic” and that blaming individuals without addressing the wider problems, such as a lack of doctors and equipment, was futile.”Clinical governance needs to be stepped up. In Nigeria, what we have is individuals being blamed for a systemic problem,” Suleiman told the BBC.”If you take six to seven surgeries…
eventually, you are exhausted. No doctor wakes up wanting to harm someone.”These concerns are supported by data.Two separate surveys last year – from the African Research Journal of Medical Sciences and NOIPolls – found that around 43% of Nigerians had personally experienced or witnessed a medical error or near-miss. About a third of patients experienced additional injuries from treatment.Medics and analysts say Nigeria has a very low doctor-patient ratio, worsened by a massive “brain drain” as health professionals emigrate after being enticed by better working conditions abroad.Remaining health workers sometimes juggle multiple jobs and often go on strike to demand higher salaries, and improved conditions.The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says about 15,000 doctors have left the country in the past five years.Its president, Dr Bala Audu, estimates the ratio is now one doctor to 8,000 patients, far lower than the recommended rate of 1: 600.”An imbalance of over 8,000 patients to one doctor increases overload and stress, which leads to mistakes,” public affairs analyst Ibrahim Saidu told the BBC.Nigeria’s health system is buckling under these pressures, Saidu added.Chronic underfunding sees the federal government allocate only about 5% of its budget to health, far below the 15% target set in 2001 by the African Union to improve medical services across the continent.The recent cases have only amplified calls for urgent reform of Nigeria’s health sector to prevent other patients from becoming tragic symbols of a national crisis.
