The health system in Nigeria is quite poor
Dr. Cassandra Bolanle Akinde is a young medical doctor with a burning passion for public health, humanitarian causes and the sustainable development goals. She obtained an MBBS (Bachelor’s in Medicine and Surgery) degree from the prestigious University of Lagos in 2016.
She is currently the Team Lead for The Nigerian Child Initiative, a non-profit which promotes child health awareness and sustainable education to empower them with healthy choices. Her work centres on helping these children understand that sound education and good health are vital determinants in ensuring their success as future leaders.
In her years of working with The Nigerian Child Initiative, she and her team have reached out to over three thousand children in schools on SDG education by organising interschool essay competitions, workshops, research masterclasses, seminars and capacity building programmes.
Providing essential care services and implementation in poorly accessible areas by targeting over five hundred children for the past 4 years is another area Dr. Akinde has uncommon zeal for. This young woman is an inspiration in multiple facets. In addition to the other brilliant aspects of her life, she’s got multilingual ability in fluent English, Spanish, Russian with a growing proficiency in German.
She considers it her life’s mission to improve quality of life of everyone she comes across using all of her unique abilities. This gives her inexplicable motivation and joy. Cassandra shares her inspiring story with me in this interview.
I have been practicing for almost 3 years now and can say categorically that health system in Nigeria is quite poor. In my humble opinion, one of the biggest health challenges is inaccessibility to quality health care. The Government performance in health sector has been abysmal. Investment in infrastructure has been poor and meager remuneration for health workers has created massive brain drain to the U.S and Europe. It is such a shame that despite the huge talents of Nigerians excelling in health sectors across the world, our own health system is failing.
So, my suggested solution to this problem lies in the Nigeria’s policy makers and health professionals including the Nigerian Diaspora to come together and create a long-term blue print for the sector. This shall involve intersectoral cooperation and collaboration between different health related ministries as partnership is very key in sustainability. The blueprint will include strategies, time lines and key performance indicators to ensure success its success in the long run. Creating the blue print and making it a reality is one of the most meaningful ways in improving health care for Nigerians.
Source – Guardian
