Challenges of Hospice and Palliative Care in Nigeria

Introduction Jessica Ajayi was a vibrant, intelligent, business savvy, wife and mother of three (3) just 6months ago, today; she lies in the hospital bed looking like her exact opposite: frail, weak, thin and generally lacking energy or life. She was diagnosed of Leukemia about a year ago and her health took a turn for the worse. She was in so much pain and discomfort. Alas, it was time to talk about how to make her comfortable till she was longer no more. She was ready, her immediate family was ready, but, the hospital wasn’t quite ready. Turns out, they were not well equipped for that kind of thing. In this paper, issues surrounding inadequacies of Palliative care in Nigeria will be examined. Health care should be a necessary right†¦show more content†¦Delayed presentation and diagnosis of terminally ill people It is a norm here for people who are ill to try to wave the feeling of symptoms aside hoping it is nothing and it will go away eventually. Meanwhile early diagnosis is always key. Sometimes, not doing anything about the symptoms a patient is feeling make it easier to believe that there is no serious damage happening to the body and that the symptoms will go away after sufficient rest. Others tend to prefer to go via the traditional method (Alternative medicine) for cure. This is mainly because most people cannot afford healthcare and the use of herbs is relatively cheaper that to go to the hospital. As a result, by the time all resources have been exhausted and the symptoms still present if not worse than before, the patient eventually visits the hospital; the case is always almost far too gone for any treatment. And all that can be done is to try to reduce patients’ pain and care for them till they pass. And even then, doctors are forced to discharge such patients as they ha ve no resources for taking care of such lost cases. Overwhelming large numbers of patients needing palliative care In Africa alone, it is estimated that about 2.5 million people die annually from HIV/AIDS, while more than 0.5 million die from cancer; Nigeria currently has the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS, after South Africa and India (Akinwande et al, 2009).Show MoreRelatedHealthcare System Is A Recognized Leader Of The Healthcare Services Industry Offering A Full Range Of Services2667 Words   |  11 PagesMedical Association Body mass index, Complementary and alternative medicine, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Council with adult social services responsibility, Commission for Health Improvement, Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence Care, Computed tomography, Disability-adjusted life-year, and Early intervention team. Christiana serves more than 35 cities throughout North America, Asia, Central America, West Africa and Europe. It has built a service network capable of addressingRead MoreHiv Patients And Case Managers During End Of Life Experience1 882 Words   |  8 Pagestreatments for chronic and incurable illnesses such as HIV are palliative, and the simultaneous and interwoven use of disease-modifying and palliative treatments constitutes the best possible care. Africa; HIV/AIDS; end-of-life; pain control; policy; palliative Introduction In this paper we are going to try to answer what is the better way to help a patient during their end of life process. I think that providing palliative care to these patients and assigning them a case manger is the right