Medical care in Nigeria
has been said to be less expensive as compared to that obtained abroad.
Rivers State based medical practitioner, Dr U.I Fingesi stated this while speaking at the Youth And Profession/Skill’ programme organized by the Adventist Youth Ministries of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Mile One, Port Harcourt Central District in Port Harcourt, Sunday.
Fingesi who noted that the notion of Nigerian medical care being expensive was widespread among Nigerians said that it was as a result of the economic standard of the nation.
According to him, the average Nigerian looks for  what to eat first before medical care adding that medical care comes mostly at the dying stage of the patient which demands more than it would have been at the beginning.
“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), poverty is living below one dollar per day. Going by this definition the average Nigerian is poor and so accessing medical care becomes almost the last option. Otherwise, there is no way we can compare what we have here to that which obtains abroad in terms of medical care putting into consideration the transportation, hotel bills and others that will be spent while receiving the care.
While fielding questions from participants of the programme, Fingesi described the medical profession as humanitarian stating that the patient was the first option of the medical doctor above everything else.
In his words ‘medical practice is humanitarian because it is the patient first. Irrespective of the amount paid to the medical personnel, life can never be compared”.
“Unfortunately, most of the patients and even their relatives have not been understanding. The attitudes of some of the doctors do not come in the empty but as a result of their ill-experiences with patients and their relatives. A lot of these patients are of the habit of absconding with their treatment bills. Consequently, the doctor is left with the option of demanding for a deposit before commencing treatment because these doctors use money to purchase the materials used for the treatment. Nevertheless, as an ethic of the profession, the patient’s life remains first,” he said.
Fingesi further noted that the some what callous attitude of some medical personnel was due largely to the numerous patients for a single doctor saying “because several other patients are waiting for you, you need to hurry up with the one you are attending to. This hasty nature does not give room for pleasantries and cordiality and it looks as if the doctors are nasty.”
Fingesi therefore called for more medical doctors to meet with the numerous medical challenge of the state and the nation at large.

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