For Faustina Onyenwe, January 2025 practically resulted in tragedy. Her three-year-old daughter had been vomiting uncontrollably, and in desperation, she rushed her to the closest main healthcare centre (PHC) in Bwari, Abuja.
By the point they arrived, the kid had been weak and barely responsive. The one nurse on responsibility assessed the kid however delayed remedy for practically 20 minutes.
The power didn’t have intravenous fluid, which was urgently wanted.
“I assumed my youngster had already died,” Onyenwe mentioned.
“The well being centre didn’t have all they wanted to manage care and I used to be requested to attend. I needed to hurry her to a normal hospital however it was a bit far. I used to be afraid as I watched my youngster get weaker and weaker,” she mentioned.
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“It was simply God who intervened within the state of affairs that day,” she added.
For Clara Nweze, the result of in search of care at a public hospital has been way more devastating. A mom of two residing in Lugbe, Abuja, she felt persistent ache in certainly one of her breasts for weeks and visited a normal hospital.
After a scan and examination, the physician advised her it was an an infection and handed her a prescription, however the ache continued for a number of weeks. When Nweze may not bear it, she sought assist at a non-public hospital. The check revealed stage two breast most cancers, and her world got here crashing.
“I used to be in shock. The primary hospital misdiagnosed me, in any other case my state of affairs wouldn’t have gotten this worse,” she recounted.
Clara and Faustina’s experiences mirror these of 1000’s navigating the nation’s overburdened public well being system. The expertise of sufferers in search of care is commonly certainly one of ready, frustration, and emotional exhaustion.
The complaints have remained constant: lengthy ready occasions, lack of apparatus or outdated gear, overstretched amenities, impolite employees, and medical negligence. Specialist departments in some hospitals have virtually became ghost cities because of the exodus of skilled professionals.
Lack of medicine
In 2023, a girl, Nneamaka, misplaced her four-month-old being pregnant at Iboko, a small city in Izzi Native Authorities Space of Ebonyi State, attributable to an absence of fundamental medication by a main healthcare centre.
Although her city didn’t have a main well being centre, she managed to go to one at a neighbouring city named Okpoduma. But, important medicines for a pregnant girl have been missing.
Medication resembling Paracetamol weren’t on the cabinets and no physician attended to her – solely nurses.
“I misplaced my youngster as a result of I didn’t get the enough medical consideration I wanted, she mentioned.
At Ndingele Main Healthcare Centre, additionally in Ebonyi State, just one nurse was on responsibility. Oxytocin, utilized in inducing contraction in pregnant moms throughout labour, was absent.
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Alleged negligence
Final month, a video surfaced on-line the place a person was heard lamenting that he rushed some accident victims to the accident and emergency unit of the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, however the employees have been detached and sluggish in attending to them.
Some medical personnel mentioned they didn’t have hand gloves, however he alleged that he had spent quarter-hour regardless of the emergency state of affairs.
Lack of apparatus
The federal authorities boasts 40,184 well being amenities. Of those, 31,815 (79.17 p.c) are main well being amenities, whereas 8,128 (20.22 p.c) are secondary amenities.
The remaining 241 (0.59 p.c) are tertiary well being amenities, in line with information from Federal Ministry of Well being.
A 2023 Nationwide Well being Facility Survey (NHFS) discovered that merely 29.9 p.c of public main well being centres had the essential useful medical gear wanted resembling weighing scales, thermometers, stethoscopes, and BP equipment.
Aisha Wada, a retired nurse on the FMC Keffi, Nasarawa State, recounted that till her retirement in early 2025, nurses nonetheless used torchlights to take care of sufferers, together with throughout supply. She additionally narrated how the dearth of mattress areas compelled sufferers to sleep on the ground typically.
“Generally you see sufferers mendacity on mats or flooring due to lack of beds. And sure, nurses nonetheless use torchlights even in working rooms,” she mentioned.
In rural areas, the state of affairs is worse. PHCs typically lack electrical energy, working water, and even chairs.
Based on the State of Well being of the Nation Report 2024, about 53 p.c of respondents didn’t consider the nation’s well being system had improved over the previous two years. Solely 19 p.c of respondents felt that the present well being system labored ‘fairly nicely,’ with solely minor adjustments wanted. About 27 p.c mentioned the well being system wanted to be utterly rebuilt.
Medical doctors converse
A resident physician in Bwari Normal Hospital mentioned, “We don’t get pleasure from seeing sufferers endure, however when the theatre has no energy or it’s a must to delay surgical procedure as a result of there’s no oxygen, you start to query what you’re even doing right here.”
One other physician, who attends to sufferers in a normal hospital and PHC in Ondo State, mentioned: “Until the federal government takes the problem of healthcare funding significantly, we’re not going anyplace.”
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Healthcare funding
The federal authorities allotted N1.34 trillion to the well being sector within the 2024 finances, representing 4.6 p.c of the full finances of N28.77 trillion. The determine rose to N2.48 trillion in 2025, representing 5.18 p.c of the full nationwide finances.
On the state stage, the State of Well being report reveals that finances allocations assorted considerably, with solely three states (Abia, Kaduna and Kano) allocating greater than 15 p.c of their complete finances to well being, eight states allocating between 10 p.c and 15 p.c, whereas the remaining states fell brief.
Vietnam, an rising market peer, allotted over $23 billion to healthcare, representing about 15 p.c of the nation’s GDP, not simply complete finances.
Lack of coverage implementation
In a bid to make its healthcare amenities run higher, the federal authorities had, in August 2024, awarded 50 p.c electrical energy subsidy to public hospitals. However a communique printed in Might by the Medical and Dental Consultants Affiliation of Nigeria revealed that this coverage had not been applied as at the moment.
Energy cuts
By the primary quarter (Q1) of 2025, practically all of Nigeria’s 73 federal well being establishments skilled extreme energy outages, pushed by their incapacity to fulfill monetary obligations to electrical energy distribution firms (DisCos).
This additionally raises considerations concerning the authorities’s dedication to salvaging the state of affairs.
Well being funding has seen some enhance in recent times, however is but to translate to improved healthcare for the common Nigerian.
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Philip Ekpke, former chairman of the Nigerian Medical Affiliation (NMA) FCT chapter, mentioned the well being sector wants extra funding. Based on him, if the federal government can implement obligatory medical insurance, there can be vital funds within the healthcare sector.
Olayinka Oladimeji, former director, main healthcare techniques growth on the Nationwide Main Well being Care Improvement Company, defined that healthcare amenities missing important medicines can’t ship high quality care.
“When you go to a healthcare facility with out important medicines, what sort of care would you get? They’ll solely present sub-optimal care. The shortage of important medicines reduces healthcare amenities to mere consulting centres,” he mentioned.
