By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A former Nigerian Minister of Youth and Sports has lamented abandonment by a hospital in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, over part payment for his admission fee.
Solomon Dalung who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term in office took to his X handle to narrate how he fell ill on Wednesday and went to the hospital for attention.
The hospital which he did not name declined plea to give him treatment because he had yet to make an admission deposit despite holding his medical records, the former Minister stated, indicating that it was not his first time in the hospital.
According to him, while this was happening, he was unconscious.
The former minister said he regained partial consciousness later and made the transfer of the deposit of N80,000 ($53.69) before he was attended to.
He said, “I was ferried into the emergency ward but abandoned for over 4 hrs due to non-payment of admission deposits. Regained partial consciousness later did the transfer of deposit,” the late Friday post reads.
“I was then admitted into the ward and given medical attention. This is the hospital that has my medical records.
“The last medical checkup I did about two months ago was there, but suddenly, I became a stranger because of non-payments of deposits even with the so-called name.
“I took ill on Wednesday, arrived at the hospital & shortly became unconscious after doctor’s interviews. Was ferried into the emergency ward but abandoned for over 4 hrs due to non-payment of admission deposits. Regained partial consciousness later did the transfer of deposit.
“After that, I fell into unconsciousness again for about 7 hours. To God be the glory, I have been discharged after 3 days & recovering. Were it not for partial consciousness to pay the deposits, I would have been Mr. late. Many Nigerians have gone this way. Where is our humanity?”
Heritage Times (HT) reports that initial deposit is mandatory for treatment to be offered in public and private hospitals in Nigeria, even in accident and emergency cases.
Hospitals in the country have faced acute shortage of manpower as a result of mass migration of doctors to overseas.
Last month, the Nigerian government revealed that the country now has only 55,000 licensed doctors to serve its growing population of over 200 million.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, also disclosed that about 16,000 doctors left the country in the last five years and about 17,000 have been transferred.
Poverty line has also widened in the West African nation in recent years, causing a larger population to live below poverty line.
