Address issue of poverty to reduce burden of ill health in Nigeria- Expert
A Medical Imaging Scientist, Dr Livinus Abonyi, says there is need to address the issue of poverty to reduce the burden of ill health and infectious diseases in the country.
Abonyi, who is a lecturer in the Department of Medical Radiography, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Lagos, College of Medicine, made the assertions in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
According to him, poverty contributes to ill health, which in turn aggravates the level of poverty, thereby having adverse effects on the country’s health indices.
Abonyi explained that the causes of poor health for millions globally were rooted in political, social and economic injustice, saying that poverty was both a cause and a consequence of poor health.
According to him, poverty increases the chances of poor health and poor health, in turn, traps communities in poverty.
“Poverty is a major cause of ill health and a barrier to accessing health care when needed.
“The World Bank recognises the relationship between economic development and health.
“It also recognises that the poor health indices in most developing countries are as a result of entrapment in a vicious circle of unrelieved poverty.
“As we all know, the health of a nation is her wealth.
“For our economy to recover and become more vibrant, we need to pay more attention to health of the population and of course the health sector,” he said.
On the goals and challenges of effective healthcare delivery, he said the goals of effective healthcare delivery were to prevent human diseases, injury and disability, as well as protect people from environmental health hazards.
“Effective healthcare delivery should also be able promote behaviours that lead to good physical and mental health, educate the public about health and assure availability of high quality health services.
“Unfortunately, achieving such lofty objectives has been extremely difficult in Nigeria as a result of lots of challenges facing our health sector,” he said.
According to him, some of the challenges include poor health facilities, dwindling human resource capacity, intra-professional rivalry, inequalities in healthcare access and cultural barriers.
“In a dwindling economy like ours, these challenges are bound to become more compounded and as such, a major concern due to pre-existing poor social and health indices in the country.
“Living in poverty can have a devastating effect on health; and poor health leads to poverty.
“In a typical and common Nigerian setting where more than five people live in a room apartment- this is not healthy, as overcrowded and poor living conditions can contribute to the spread of airborne and infectious diseases.’’ he said.
The expert said to improve on the poor health indices, policies must be inclusive of all socioeconomic strata.
He said: “There must be universal basic healthcare coverage and provision of health insurance to Nigerians, especially the rural community dwellers.
“We must pay close attention to individuals with disabilities by having a comprehensive reform, while mental health issue must be at the front burner of our priorities.’’
Abonyi, therefore, urged the Federal Government to increase the country’s health budget to approach the 15 per cent as recommended by the World health Organisation (WHO).
He advised that the issue of inter-and intra- professional rivalry and incessant industrial action in the health sector should be addressed and resolved in a holistic manner.
