“Answer that, and we can discuss why doctors in Kano reportedly absconded from work recently and why sick Nigerians prefer to seek treatment in Dubai, Egypt, India, UK, etc.”
Dr. Nura Alkali, a neurologist with research interests in stroke, politics, culture and history wrote the following:
“Before this epidemic, disposable PPE gowns cost N5,500 apiece, gloves cost N100, and facemasks cost next to nothing. The most advanced mechanical ventilators cost N15 million, a cardiac monitor 0.5 to 1 million, while a motorized ICU bed cost N700K – N850K.
So, with N200 million, a specialist hospital could have a 10-bed ICU with 10 cardiac monitors, 5 ventilators (not all ICU patients need ventilators) and other paraphernalia (suction machines, etc).
Another N50 million could build an oxygen plant (N25 -30 million) and provide 3,000 PPE gowns and thousands of gloves, facemasks, hand sanitizers, antiseptics, detergents, thermometers and other consumables. Enough material to last 1 – 2 years at any hospital even during epidemics.
Coronavirus or not, specialist hospitals need ICUs to care for critically-ill patients with diabetic coma, severe pneumonia, head trauma, stroke or drug poisoning; and steady supplies of oxygen, emergency drugs and consumables.
All could be had for N250 million with no future expenses. The costliest items (beds, ventilators and monitors) will only need repairs, which can be funded with hospital IGR alongside consumables. Yet, most northern states lacked one functional ICU and depended on federal hospitals when coronavirus arrived here.
It was not for lack of money but a matter of priority. The same period saw a governor buying 105 official cars that cost his state N3.6 billion. How many ICUs could be equipped with half that amount? How many lives could have been saved from Lassa fever, diabetes, stroke?
Answer that, and we can discuss why doctors in Kano reportedly absconded from work recently and why sick Nigerians prefer to seek treatment in Dubai, Egypt, India, UK, etc.“
