The role of ICT in the improvement of the Health Sector in Nigeria.

By Kerikuma Oshilim

23rd March, 2012

Abstract. In this information era, the need for a quality and efficient health sector in Nigeria is expected, but the current state of Nigerias health sector is nothing to write home about. With the number of child mortality and other health related issues increasing yearly, some steps need to be taken to improve the health sector of the country. In this paper, I shall discuss some of the problems associated with the Nigeria health sector which include use of outdated and malfunctioning equipments and infrastructure, inefficiency and inadequacy of healthcare manpower, unsatisfactory and substandard management, lack of information on health care services to citizens and corruption. Some solutions were provided to the problems. The solutions to the problems mentioned are based on the use of ICT to improve the current state of the sector. The dissemination of information in the form of knowledge addresses an individual and the community as a whole. With ICT, an individual knows about his or her state of health and the community can gain better access to health care facility.

Introduction In Nigeria, over 50,000 Nigerian women die from child birth every year (equivalent to a plane carrying 140 people crashing every single day). Nigeria accounts for 10% of the worlds maternal deaths in child birth whereas the country represents 2% of the worlds population. One in five Nigerian children dies before his/her 5th birthday. About a million Nigerian children die of preventable causes every year. Only 18% of Nigerian children are fully immunized by their first birthday. Malaria kills more Nigerians than any other disease, and yet less than 5% of its population have access to insecticide treated nets proven to be effective in preventing malaria. The Nigerian Government at all levels spends less than 5% of public expenditure on health, despite being signatory to the 2000 Abuja Declaration to increase this to 15%. For crying out loud, Over 75% of the Millennium Development Goals are health related! Looking at this statistics, Nigeria needs a drastic change in her health sector. The use of ICT in improving our health sector will cause a decline in the number of preventable deaths.

A nation is divided into a public sector or a private. The public sector is the part of an economy that is controlled by the national governments. It can be the Federal, State or local government. According to The Wikipedia, an online dictionary, it states that the public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector or the government sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal. The public sector offer services such as protection, taxation, national defence, healthcare, urban planning and a bunch of other programs to its citizens. The other sector which is the private sector is a part of the society that is not controlled by the government, but owned and run by individuals who are citizens or non-citizens of a nation. Most private sector businesses and enterprises are run for profit making. Services offered in the private sector include waste management, security service, education, health services etc. Health care services are offered in both the public and private sector, thus we can see that healthcare is an important aspect of the economy. The health sector is a part of the economy that deals with stocks relating to medical and healthcare goods or services. The healthcare sector includes the conglomerate of health institutions e.g. hospitals, private practice, consultancy firms, management firms, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), biotechnology and a variety of medical products. Low customer satisfaction by the health sector can be improved by information communications technology. Information Communications technology have no specific definition because of its concepts, its application into different areas and the way it keeps on evolving everyday. In this paper, ICT will be defined as products or tools that ease communication and the manipulation or processing and transmission of information and distribution of knowledge by electronic means. This encompasses the full range of electronic digital and analog ICTs, from radio and television to telephones (fixed and mobile), computers, electronic-based media such as digital text and audio-video recording, and the Internet, but excludes the non-electronic technologies. In our country Nigeria, the health sector is nothing to write home about. The government does not take the health sector seriously. They allocated small cut of the yearly budget to the

health sector and makes the situation worsen. The under financing of the health sector has led to qualitative and quantitative decrease in the services rendered by the health sector. Also, the use of outdated and malfunctioning equipments and infrastructure, inefficiency and inadequacy of healthcare manpower, unsatisfactory and substandard management, lack of information on health care services to citizens and of course corruption are some of the causes of the pressing challenges Nigerians face in the health sector. The use of outdated and malfunctioning equipments and infrastructure not only discourages patients from coming to the hospitals but also increases the total number of deaths that occurs in a country. Using outdated equipment causes problems for both the patients and the doctors or even the hospital as a whole. Since the equipment is old, one has no guarantee of the time the machine becomes completely unusable. Imagine a doctor performing a serious procedure, and suddenly, the medical equipment stops working. In this scenario, the patient life is at risk and may likely die if nothing is done quickly, also, the doctor and hospital reputation will be tarnished. When this happens, the number of clients who visits this hospital will reduce and also stops new patients from registering with this particular hospital. Inefficiency and inadequacy of healthcare manpower is a problem in the country. In its general term, efficiency means absence of waste, or using the resources as effectively as possible to satisfy peoples needs and desires. In Nigeria, due to the limited number of experienced medical practitioners, those available are in high demand. Since they are high demand, they let the power get to them. These doctors make patients wait for them for no reason. They waste time and limited resources knowing at the end of the month, they always get their salary. They get paid for work they did not do, this is a character of a typical Nigerian worker. Sometimes some doctors do not have the skills needed. They go through school and only graduate with the theory knowledge of medicine and not the practical aspect. In Nigeria, these doctors are called quack doctors. They practice medicine without the necessary training. These kinds of medical practitioners reduce the effectiveness of health care services, thus having an impact on the populations level of health.

The unsatisfactory and sub standard management in the health sector has reduced the available resources for health and lower the quality of health care services. Hospital management which is also called health administration is defined by Wikipedia: a free encyclopaedia as the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of

hospitals, hospital networks, health care systems, and public health systems.(Wikipedia par 1). Skilled hospital administrators are vital in a hospital to ensure that medical facilities run efficiently and deliver quality patient care. Hospital administrators are responsible for overseeing the daily operation of a hospital, clinic, managed care organization or public health agency. They coordinate the actions of all departments and ensure they function as one, hospital administrators must hold a wide set of skills and knowledge. When an administrator messes up in his or her duties in the hospital, it affects the day-to-day running of the hospital. When an administrator fails in his or her duties, it affects the availability and deliverability of quality facilities and amenities to the patients of the hospital. Corruption in the health sector is a concern in all countries, but it is especially critical in developing and transitional economies where public resources are already scarce. According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Corruption is defined as dishonest, illegal, or immoral behaviour, especially from someone with power. In this paper, we shall define corruption as when a person who holds a public office uses public funds for private benefits. In Nigeria, corruption is found in all level of government organization. Nigeria's health sector has failed to improve over the years mainly due corrupt tendencies of people charged with administrating the sector. Corruption reduces resources available for health, lowers the quality, equity and effectiveness of health care services, decreases the volume and increases the cost of services provided. It discourages people to use and pay for services and ultimately has a corrosive impact on the population's level of health. Among another nation of the world, Nigeria has one of the worst health-care statistics and comes close to the bottom of virtually every development index. Most countries that are ranked higher than Nigeria have suffered significant amount of internal conflict and have considerably lower per capita gross domestic products. In 2000, the World Health Organization ranked the Nigerian health system in 187th place out of 191 countries evaluated. According to UNDP, life expectancy in Nigeria has declined to 43 years (2006) from 47 in 1990. In contrast, life expectancy in Malaysia, which attained its nation independence at the same time as Nigeria, has now reached 70 years. Advancement in information technology and communication has lead to increase in the use of an array of technologies that are available for use in the health sector. The health sector has always relied on technologies. Technologies are used in preventing, diagnosing and even

treat illness and diseases. Increase in information and computer technology in the last quarter of the 20 century has increase the ability of doctors to more accurately profile an individual health risk. With this, accurate and effective measures are place to monitor the health of the individual at any point in time. With information, medical practitioners and hospital management are aware of latest technologies in the medical world and acquiring them leads to increase in the quality of health services delivered to patients. The manpower of a country is part of the country resources. The use of adequate and efficient manpower in the health sector of the Nigerias economy will have a huge impact on the health population of the nation. Experienced doctors are in short supply in the country, and those who are experienced are in Diaspora selling their services in another country. Looking at it, one would think they left their motherland that is in desperate need of them and went to work elsewhere. But looking at their point of view, they complain that the working environment in the country is not habitable which by the way is true. Therefore, the government should do something about that. It can improve the remuneration of medical personnel in public hospitals, and provide them with other welfare packages like good accommodation. Free education can also be given to deserving personnel for further training to improve both their knowledge and skills and funding should be increased for research and continuous education. This will help in reducing the brain drain from the health sector.
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Dissemination of information through communication devices to people who have low access of information increases healthy population in a country. In this information era, knowledge is power. The methods people use to communicate with each other have also changed significantly. Mobile telephone, electronic mail and videoconferencing offer new choices for sharing ideas and perspectives. Reliable information and effective communication are important aspects in public health practices. The use of appropriate technologies can increase the quality and the reach of both information and communication. With knowledge people can achieve a reasonably amount of healthy living. Also, social organisations can help people to achieve health through health care systems and public health processes.

With the healthy population of citizens decreasing and the issues in the health sector increasing, the government have to find a way to revive the health sector. With the application of ICT in the health sector, the services and quality of the health sector can be

increased which in turn lead to increase in the country healthy population. In conclusion, the current state of the health sector can be greatly improved by the introduction of ICT.

Work cited
Chetley, Andrew. Improving health, connecting people: the role of ICTs in the health sector of developing countries 31 May 2006. Print. Hadi, Rabiatu. Corruption in the Nigerian Health Sector: Time to Right the Wrongs 07 February 2012. Web.