A Sad Loss… Pregnant Woman Dies in Hospital Over Husband’s Inability to Pay N20,000 Deposit

By Adeola Adeyemo

The practice of asking for a cash deposit in hospitals before administering treatment and the inability to pay the requested amount has been the sad cause of death of several patients. In Port Harcourt, something similar occurred recently when a lady, pregnant with her first child, died over her husband’s inability to pay the requested deposit.

PM News reports that on November 25th 2012, a 34 year old woman, Ijeoma Umumadumere, was rushed to the  Garrison Clinic in Port Harcourt when she complained of a sudden stomach pain and headache, while cooking.  She was five-months pregnant.

At the hospital, doctors insisted her husband must pay N20,000 before she was treated. However, he had only N5,000 on him and used it to  offset registration and other costs. But the doctors and nurses would not attend to his wife because he didn’t pay the N20,000 that was being demanded as a precondition for treatment. When he realised the doctors were not going to attend to his wife, he took her to another hospital but sadly, it was too late and she died.

The anger and frustration over her death was expressed by her brother, Uzoma Ahamefule who wrote a heartfelt letter to PM News. In the letter, Uzoma who lives in Austria said he couldn’t understand why doctors in a Nigerian hospital could have treated his sister that way.

“Her husband begged the doctor and the nurses to attend to her since they had collected about N5, 000 he had in his pocket in the name of registration and other little things while he would go home and bring money. He had also told them that because of the nature of the emergency and the way his wife had been shouting while on the ground that his mind had only been pre-occupied with the thoughts of rushing her to any nearby hospital and had not thought of money or any other thing as he had even forgotten to put on shoes, but all his pleading and explanations to the doctor and the nurses had fallen onto deaf ears. With her pains increasing and death knocking and the doctor and the nurses refusing to understand, there was no way he could have left her there unattended, to go home and bring money. He took her and headed to another hospital, but unfortunately my sister did not make it as the damage had already been done before the doctors in that second hospital could do something reasonable to save her life.”

“What a country, what a failure and what a loss! This is a sad story of the sorry state of the Nigerian health policy, how Nigerians are heartlessly and carelessly neglected because of money by doctors and nurses to die in hospitals, and how I lost my sister to a failed system.”

In a lot of private and public hospitals in Nigeria, this sort of deposit is usually demanded even in cases of emergency. Doctors and nurses would refuse to attend to a patient until the money is paid. In the event that this money is unavailable, the patient lies in pain and his or her health suffers.

Her death is really sad and calls for a discussion on this practice. What can be done to ensure that in our hospitals, the life of a patient is taken as priority? We understand that in most cases, the hospitals are trying to prevent a situation whereby a patient would be treated and they won’t get paid for the services rendered, however, losing a life over N20,000 is inexcusable. Are the doctors not obligated to render their services in emergency cases or is this a proper medical practice?

Let’s discuss.
BellaNaija

Power Intoxication: Rochas Okorocha’s ADC beat mobile policeman unconscious

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by Isi Esene
A mobile police officer attached to the state government house in Imo got a beating of his life from the governor’s aide-de-camp  (ADC) for allegedly delaying opening the gate for the governor’s convoy.
The ADC to Governor Rochas Okorocha, identified as Omo Gabriel, with the help of two other police officers were said to have beaten the victim to a state of unconsciousness around 12:30am on Saturday.
The mobile policeman, Corporal Itere Ewedor, was said to have been on duty at the security post when the governor’s convoy drove in from an event to celebrate the state’s first lady’s birthday.
According to David Edhie, who claims to be a friend of the victim: “When the governor’s convoy got to the gate, the men of the civil defence corps and members of the Imo orientation corps, who were supposed to open the gate, were not around. So, there was a delay. Then my friend went to open the gate.
“When the convoy drove in, the ADC and some other police officers came down and asked him why he delayed. They wanted to collect his gun, but he refused. So, they started beating him. They beat him until he became unconscious, with bruises all over his face and parts of his body.”
After the assault on the mobile police officer, Gabriel reportedly took the victim to Shell Camp Police Station and requested that he be detained.
Edhie said, “The police officers at the station refused. They said they could not detain someone that was dying. Then Gabriel made arrangements for Ewedor to be taken to the Federal Medical Centre Owerri, where he was admitted. After sometime, he regained consciousness.”
He was discharged from the hospital around 5pm on Saturday.
The incident was, however, denied by the state commissioner for information and senior special adviser to the governor on media, Chinedu Offor.
He said, “The ADC to Governor Okorocha is a true professional, there is no way he could have descended so low to physically assault somebody. In order not to scare people away, we use men of the civil defence corps at the gate. We don’t use policemen at the gates of the government house.
So, if anybody says a policeman was beaten up for refusing to open the gate, it is false. I was at the government house around 12:30am. Such a thing never happened.”
YNaija.com

Diouf Warns Mikel, Moses To Beware Of Rafa Benitez Says “It Could Be Hard”

A word of advice has been sent from Senegalese striker and former Liverpool front man, El-Hadji Diouf to Nigeria’s pair of Mikel Obi and Victor Moses. Diouf has warned the duo to brace up for tougher days ahead under interim manager, Rafa Benitez at Chelsea.

Diouf told Liverpoolfc.com that Benitez lacked adequate tolerance for African footballers but believes that Nigerian chief at Chelsea, Michael Emenalo, can protect his compatriots.
“Rafa has divisive tendencies, I know him well,” Diouf says of the Spaniard with nostalgia.
“Mikel and Moses have to watch out because they now have a manager who lacks the interest of African footballers. Rafa hardly said a word to me and (Salif) Diao though he met us at Anfield and I wondered why but I can see that he came for HiSpanisation at Liverpool and I don’t think the club has been the same ever since” he alleged.
“It could be hard for Mikel and Moses. The only good thing is that they have a top guy in Chelsea who is a Nigerian (Michael Emenalo); he should be able to take care of their interest.”
 InformationNigeria.org

The new STD that could kill you

It appears that there is a new STD that is killing men and its related to oral sex.  The Human papillomavirus (HPV) was once believed to have no effect on men, but it’s now found to be harmful to men as well as well as women.  In fact, giving someone unprotected oral sex or receiving it from them if they are infected can seriously jeopardize your health.  A new study has found a rapid increase in the number of throat and neck cancers over the last 12 years, with thousands of new cases occurring every single year.
BlackDoctor.org discusses the issue in more detail, noting that throat, mouth and neck cancers were once caused by tobacco use.  But although the use of tobacco has declined, the rates of certain cancers related to HPV have been on the rise.  The rate of STD infection is even greater in the black community, where a lower marital rate has led to an increase in the number of sex partners.  One researcher at a major university told YBW that he randomly tested 20 men in a barbershop and found that half of them were infected with Chlamydia without even knowing it.
According to the Journal of Clinical Oncology, over 11,000 cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed this year, but the number has been declining.  Women regularly get Pap Smears, but men are less likely to go to the doctor.  As a result, the number of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer cases will rise to 8,700, with 7,400 of those cases in men.  The disease then festers within the mouth and throat of the victim, causing cancerous sores to emerge for those who are undiagnosed.
YNaija.com

Aregbesola Denies HND Holders Recruitment Into Osun Civil Service

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola

The government of the state of Osun yesterday conducted civil service recruitment test for applicants into the state civil service. The test which reports say was as good as it gets pundits say was a commendable exercise from the state government who is planning to recruit hundreds into the state civil service to replace the retiring civil servants at the end of the year. Over ten thousand applicants, reports say obtained the recruitment form, but only 6,000 were considered to write the test. It was learnt that the number was reduced to 6,000 as only applicants with a university degree and holders of Higher National Diploma, HND with additional qualifications like PGD, ACA, etc. were considered, while holders of NCE, OND, and HND without additional qualifications were not considered.
The National Association of Technologists in Engineering, NATE, had been advocating for the government to put both university degree and HND on the same level, but it seems their efforts at stopping the disparity will continue to be frustrated by some people.
No one would expect someone like Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to allow such policy in a state he governs, having graduated from The Polytechnic, Ibadan himself.
When asked why the government employed the policy in reducing the number of applicants who sat for the recruitment test, Governor Aregbesola reports say drifted away from the question to other things.
Some have suggested in the past that government should scrap polytechnic education if the graduates of the institution who have spent the same number of years spent by university graduates, and who usually are more technically sound than university graduates would not be regarded the same way university graduates are regarded. What the government will do about this, and how insistent NATE would be till they achieve what they want remains to be seen.
InformationNigeria.org

“I am richer than my father” – Ojukwu’s dis-inherited son

Sylvester Ojukwu

Controversy has continued to trail the Will of the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu barely 48 hours after it was read.
The Will which stated that his first son, Sylvester Ojukwu, has no place in his multi-million property has raised more dusts than expected.
However, countering the content of the Will, Sylvester, who claimed he is richer than his father, doubted the authenticity of the Will, saying that it was concocted.
Sylvester said, “even if it is true, I am worth over N3 billion, which is more than the assets mentioned in my father’s Will”.
Referring to the Will as fake, the first son of the War lord said it looks very suspicious, “I am surprised, and I doubt that the Will was drafted by my father. It was a concoction.
The Will seemed to have been drafted in hurry by people desperate to achieve an aim. But, if it is the true Will of my father, I have no problem with that. After all, this is not the first time a first son is disinherited from his father’s Will. If truly my father disinherited me from his Will, that does not stop me from being Ojukwu’s first son,” he stated.
It would be recalled that Sylvester once dragged his family members to court for not allowing him to perform the ‘dust to dust’ rites during the interment of the late Biafran leader.
But fighting back at the present situation, Sylvester, a legal practitioner said that through a DNA test one could lose his paternity if it is proved that he is not the rightful child of his father.
However, in the controversial Will, the late Eze Ndigbo willed his estate and monies to former beauty queen, Bianca, and appointed her, the late Igwe of Oraukwu, Emeka Ojukwu and James Chukwuneme as trustees and executors of the documents.
Ikemba also clearly stated in his Will that only eight people should be regarded as his bonafide children.
The list of the chosen children includes, Teni Hamman, Emeka Ojukwu, Mmegha, Okigbo, Ebele, Chineme, Afam and Nwachukwu.
Although only one of Ojukwu’s children was present when the Will was read at the Enugu High Court on Friday, other share holders were urged by the court to apply for copies of the Will as well as the codicil, which was prepared by one Barrister Emeka Onyemelukwe on December 16, 2009.
DailyPost

Feeling Tired? Here Are 5 Foods You Can Eat To Regain Strength

A bowl of oats: The high dietary fiber content in oats helps you feel full longer, preventing overeating throughout the day, which can lead to weight gain, sluggishness, and fatigue.There’s more: oatmeal contains B1, the vitamin that is known to fight fatigue.
A handful of walnuts: if you’re feeling blue, munching on walnuts can boost your spirits. This wonder nut contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to fight symptoms of depression.
Whole wheat toast: the complex carbs in it give you the energy boost you need, without disturbing blood sugar levels.
Oranges: the Vitaminc C family can instantly inject freshness into your body and mind. That’s because this wonderful vitamin helps reduce cortisol—the hormone responsible for stress and energy slumps.
A cup of creamy yogurt: it’s simple. If your digestive system is out of gear, you’re going to feel whacked. That’s where yogurt comes in. The friendly bacteria in it do a fabulous job of regulating your digestion. The result: you have more energy, which lasts longer because yogurt has more protein than carbs. Try to get about 8 ounces of yogurt daily. You will feel relief from chronic fatigue within a week or so.
InformationNigeria.org