When medical personnel in Africa’s most populous country flee overseas, there is a big problem. Who caters to Nigeria’s over 200 million population when less than half of registered doctors practise in the country and the larger percentage have migrated to greener pastures? Worse still, there is less investment in healthcare infrastructure. Who feels the brunt of the exodus more?
In rural areas where most residents travel miles to cities to access quality healthcare services, it has been from one tragedy to another. For women and children, who seem to be more vulnerable, life has become a misery.
Here in Shakwata, a village in Bosso Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, the new primary healthcare centre constructed in 2015 is managed by two community health extension workers (CHEW). There is no doctor or nurse. The facility has three beds; hence, only three patients can be admitted at once. Despite the poor condition of the centre, women from Kachalla, Yawo, Buluko, Tachki, Dunkoshi, Tayegi, and many nearby villages come to Shakwata for antenatal and immunisation.
