• Ensure that all Federal hospitals are well equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and well trained and empathetic personnel. Many people do not go to Federal hospitals because, even though it is cheaper than most private hospitals, the staff can be completely apathetic to the plights of patients. I have two examples. My mum had a car accident sometime in 2012 and was taken to National Hospital, Abuja. After stitching her up, they discharged her that same day. I was shocked because she had head wounds. In my view of what standard procedure should be, I felt that they should have kept her overnight (at least) to monitor her. When I got to her, she kept complaining of some pricking pain in her head and beneath her feet. Upon inspection, I saw bits of glass in her head and her sole. I had to gently remove the glass before she could sleep that night. When I asked if she complained to the nurse about the pain, she told me the nurse has been brusque with her and the doctor wasn’t much better. Also, I went to visit a friend at Federal Medical Centre, Yola and I was in a large group. We were treated so poorly that we had to communicate with him through the window…and even at that, someone asked us to move away from there. This happened during the visiting hour so it is not like we were breaking any rules. anyway, back to the present. Do all you can to ensure that there are proper facilities AND well trained empathetic staff in Federal hospitals.
• Direct state governors to ensure the same thing for the state hospitals they run. Adamawa-German Hospital is a well equipped, albeit expensive, hospital which has very modern facilities that should be emulated by other states (if they do not already have such facilities) and they should be managed properly by the best persons.
• More primary health care facilities should be built across local governments, towns, and villages. This will make access to health care easier for people in rural communities and in my view, will reduce cases of preventable diseases and mortality rates from rural communities.
• Ensure that the health insurance scheme is effectively functioning so that patients can receive medical attention even when they have no money at hand.
• Make sure medical personnel are well paid for their time, effort and energy. They give a whole lot to ensure that they save lives, treat diseases that may be communicable/infectious and repair wounds. The case of Dr. Stella Adadevor is a clear example of doctors putting their lives on the line to ensure that the populace is safe. Their pay packages should not be delayed or tampered with. They should also be encouraged to keep on doing their jobs. Also, encourage further training for medical personnel. In fact, make it compulsory that anyone who works for the government gets training once in may two or four years.
• Research should be made into how made-in-Nigeria drugs can be standardized for public use and how to get Nigerians to trust our Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical companies, Biochemists, Analytical and Industrial Chemists and the likes. If formal education is worked on as mentioned above, this will be a stroll in the park. We can then think of how we will export drugs and other health products to African nations and from there, to the rest of the world.
• You need to enforce weekly sanitation so that diseases like Malaria, Typhoid, Dysentery, Diarrhea and Cholera can be drastically reduced. Trust me; some cities in the Northern part of the country are just disease-prone time bombs waiting to detonate. Somewhere in Bauchi (the state capital), and not too far from Zaranda Hotel, is a refuse dump right there in the middle of the road. It is an ugly site and a health hazard! Adamawa is also a very dirty town. I saw pictures on Linda Ikeji’s blog of streets in Ajegunle (Lagos state) that were disgusting dumps after heavy rainfall. This means that the problem is not just with the North but with the entire country. It has been said that the cleanliness of a town (or the lack of it) is a reflection of the mindset of the people and I cannot help but agree. If you are able to enforce a weekly nationwide sanitation, Nigerians will understand the need for a clean environment and a healthy nation.
• You also need to advocate for the complete reduction of maternal and child mortality, cases of fistula and other diseases that are only peculiar to women and sometimes, children.

If you are able to kick start this necessary change in the health sector, it will not only be useful to keeping the nation healthy, but can become a viable source of revenue for the nation as a whole.