It took the electrocution of
a 300-Level Accounting student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Oluchi
Anekwe, for her colleagues to know what have become of the institution’s Health
Centre. Last August, a high-tension cable fell on Oluchi and her younger
sister, Uju, as they returned from church. Oluchi went into a coma. Uju called
for help. They were rushed to the Health Centre, where the workers allegedly
asked for their identity cards as condition for treatment.
A few minutes later, Oluchi,
who was the best student in her class, died; Uju survived to relive the
experience.
There was a similar
development at the University of Ibadan (UI), where a 200-Level Education
student, Mayowa Alaran, slumped while watching a football match in a poorly- ventilated
common room. When the student was rushed to the clinic, a doctor was said to have
demanded for his medical card before attending to him. In the ensuing argument,
Mayowa died.
Oluchi and Mayowa died
because of the disorganized operations of their schools clinics. Several lives
have been lost to the lackadaisical attitude of health workers, who students
accuse of not being proactive in responding to emergency in line with best
practice and professionalism.
The story is the same in all tertiary institutions across the nation, where
some students have died because of the professional misconduct of health
workers.
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| A Polytechnic Health Centre |
Penultimate week, students of
the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) in Lagos destroyed the school’s
clinic following the death of a final year Office Management and Technology
student, Charity Dazan, who was allegedly rejected when she was rushed there. At
the time of this report, YABATECH remained shut to prevent a breakdown of law and
order.
The recurring deaths in these
health centres is raising fear among students. The clinics, they said, have
become glorified mortuaries where bright students are killed.
Students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, were not
happy with the development. Tope Ademola, a student of the Obafemi Awolowo
University (OAU) in Ile Ife, Osun State, said the clinic was the worst place to
be in her school.
“To me, the school health
centre should better not be in place. Our clinic seems to be a place purposely
set up to kill students. The medical workers do nothing, yet they get salaries
for being lazy. There are no equipment and good medications, except
paracetamol,” she said.
Tope recalled her experience
when she had skin infection. “Before I finished my explanation, the doctor prescribed
a drug. He did not allow me to show him the rashes on my arm. I begged him to
hear me out. At the end, I was given the drugs and asked to buy the rest
outside.”
Cynthia Okafor, a final year Economics student
of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), wondered why she would visit the school clinic.
“I don’t want to walk to meet untimely death,” she said, adding: “I cannot risk
my life in the hands of quacks employed in the school clinic. The doctors keep
prescribing the same drugs for various health conditions. I go to
private hospital whenever I
take ill, not the school clinic.”
Checks by our correspondent
showed that the conditions of clinics in tertiary institutions are nothing to
write home about. They are faced with common challenges, including inadequate
equipment, shortage of drugs,
limited consulting rooms, few bed spaces, paucity of funds and bad manners of
the workers, among others.
CAMPUSLIFE visited the health
centre of a College of Education in Edo State, where students sat for hours,
waiting to have appointment with doctors. It was 9:45am but the consulting
rooms were yet to be opened.
About an hour after, two
doctors arrived, but they did not immediately attend to the waiting students.
They stood in the lobby for another 30 minutes, discussing.
Mercy Omage, a final year
Home Economics Education student, told our correspondent: “Any student coming
to the school clinic
Should prepare for a whole
day and cancel other engagement he has for that day.”
She continued: “If I had my
way, I would not have come here. Most students don’t come here, because they
don’t trust the services in this clinic. Apart from the laziness of the doctors,
the nurses are rude. It takes hours for them to fetch your case note and when
they are done, you hear them pronouncing your
name as though they don’t
know how to read.
“The doctors are too quick to
hand over a prescription paper to you. All they do is to write. They won’t even
examine patients. It is as if the doctors were forced into the profession. The
attitude of health workers these days is just annoying.”
“The college health workers
simply lack empathy,” Gloria Iduwonze, another student, said.
Pointing to a rusty bed in
the health centre, Gloria said: “Is this our definition of health centre in
21st century? I doubt if this place has oxygen cylinders.”
A final year Law student of
UI, who pleaded for anonymity, relived his experience at the school medical
centre. He said: “Last year, I had a tissue growth in my left ear and they recommended
ear syringe. I waited for over two hours in pains for a nurse to get a kettle to
boil water. The nurse went to another office to get a kettle. In the waiting
period, nobody told me what was going on. They acted as though, if you can’t
wait, go somewhere else. That is a kind of wickedness students are facing at
the school health centre.”
Dr Comfort Enofe, Director of
Health Centre of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), admitted that higher
institutions are facing challenges in meeting the medical needs of students.
She hinged the problem on inadequate funding of the higher institutions, saying
government needed to look into the issue, with the objective to boost service
delivery.
She said: “I cannot speak for other schools, but
I see what happens here. Our service has improved and students don’t have to
wait for long hours before they see doctors. They can call and book appointment
24 hours prior to visit. When they come, their files are taken directly to the
doctors. This has helped to reduce waiting time.”
To improve medical service,
Dr Enofe said the UNIBEN management has inaugurated an Operating Theatre in the
school health centre to upgrade the facility from a primary healthcare unit to
a functional hospital.
“We have a 16-bed ward, where
we admit students and staff. Those cases that are beyond us in terms of
manpower and
equipment are immediately
referred to our Teaching Hospital,” she added.
Beyond provision of
equipment, students said there was need for health workers to be dedicated and
empathetic to patients. “The school health workers need to show empathy to
students seeking medical attention. If this is lacking, there is nothing to be
achieved even if the health centres have the best facilities,” said Emmanuel
Edigberhi.
First Published in Thursday February 25th
2016 Edition of CAMPUSLIFE, The Nation Newspapers
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