Primus Hospital Abuja, Nigeria
Mrs.
Aniboeze showing a point where she was operated of goiter
Since
its establishment two years ago, Primus International Specialist Hospital, Ambuja, Nigeria which is solely
owned and managed by Indians, in Abuja, has been receiving allegations of quack
practices by some Nigerians. MUSA UMAR BOLOGI looks at the situation against
the backdrop of a pending case and the recent testimonies by patients of the
hospital
On Thursday, December,
6, 2012, some patients of the hospital gathered at the hospital premise to
protest what they believed to be deliberate attempt by some “unscrupulous”
Nigerians to bring down the image of the hospital.
Zainab
Abubakar and her mother during the patients’ forum Photos: Musa Umar Bologi
As early as 8 am, the
visitors’ waiting room was full to capacity with both new and old patients of
the hospital who have come out to testify against reports that the hospital is
an abode of quacks and “a theater of death”.
Some patients on
admission who could not walk were help on wheel chairs by their relatives, to
attend the forum.
The patients’
testimonies also came against the backdrop of pending case in an Abuja High
Court filed by two of its doctors over alleged maltreatment.
“This allegations are
not true”, said Mrs. Fatima Muhammadu Sanni, who is the Chairman of Association
of Market Women in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). “I have my hips operated
on in this hospital after I fell, and I have been well and strong.
“I would have
travelled and get the hip fixed in the United States, for I have a son who is a
doctor practicing in one of the hospitals, but I decided to do it here base on
the recommendation of my son.”
She said the rumour of
quack doctors in the hospital had been conceived and spread by people that were
agents of foreign hospitals in Nigeria, who encourage Nigerians to go for
treatment abroad because of the financial gain they could benefit from such
trips.
“Such people are not
happy that Primus hospital is in Nigeria, because they are used to referring
people to hospitals abroad and get paid,” she said. “They are dupes. They
collect money from patients in the name of arranging travel documents for them.
Many of them are health professionals in government hospitals.”
She said over 6, 000
market women in Abuja have benefited from free medical services from the
hospital since inception.
“Some of them with
critical cases were admitted in the hospital and treated, and those that
required operations were operated on successfully. Today they are going about
their normal business, without any complain. If the doctors that have treated
them were quacks, will they be well today,” she queried.
What made the forum
more interesting is the willingness of people to reveal the points on which
they had been operated on.
Chief Emeke Nwosu, a
construction engineer, ignored all the presence of the audience and opened his
tummy to show how he lost ponds after he survived stroke. Also a 35-year-old
Scholar Aniboeze, also showed the mark on her neck to reveal where she was
operated of goiter
“This is not a time to
be shy, it is a time for you to defend what you believe in,” Nwosu said. “I
would have died if not for the help of the doctors here.
“I was initially
admitted at the National Hospital Abuja, when I had a stroke but a doctor there
wanted to kill me. She advised that I could arrange for my treatment abroad if
I could pay her $350,000 (N54.6 million). I didn’t have the money, and later
somebody advised us to come to Primus hospital.
“Because I couldn’t
raise the money to give the woman, she went around telling everybody she knows
with me that my brother took away her patient and that the hospital we had gone
to is not a good one.
“These are the people
spreading fake rumour about this hospital. They want to bring down the name of
the hospital so that they can continue with the kind of business they are using
patients for.”
Mrs. Aniboeze, the
patient who was operated of goiter, said although she was advised not to come
to Primus hospital for the operation because it is full of quack doctors and
obsolete equipment.
“But I couldn’t have
done it anywhere, because I didn’t have the money to travel abroad,” she said;
“And because my sister died in one of the government hospital while undergoing
the same operation.
“So I ignored all the
allegations against Primus, and I came here, and Dr. Jar explained all the
procedure of the operation to me and gave me assurance. I told him I don’t want
to die, because I was scared base on information I have heard about the
hospital; but he told me that my safety was his safety, and that I was going to
be alive and well.
“I proceeded with the
operation and today, thank God, I am alive well. And I discovered that the
rumour about the hospital is not true. You have to visit the hospital for you
to know what is happening there.”
Speaking earlier at
the forum, the Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Rules and
Business, Hon. Albert Tanimu, described as “unfortunate” the rumour going
around about the hospital.
“I think this hospital
is a blessing for Nigeria,” he said. “If we cannot encourage them, we should
bring them down. It has saved many people like me the cost and stress traveling
abroad for medical treatment.
“I have the money to
travel abroad for treatment, but I decided to come for total hip replacement
here, and it was done perfectly. We are discouraging people to travel abroad
for medical treatments, so we also have to live by example. The hospital is
comparable to any specialist hospital abroad, and that is why many members of
the National Assembly patronize them,” he added.
A mother of a patient,
Zainab Abubakar, a 200 level student of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Mr.s
Rakiya Abubakar, said her daughter’s life was saved by the doctors in the
hospital after she had visited many hospitals without appreciable progress in
her health condition.
“At many of the
hospitals, after series of tests, they told me they could not diagnose what was
wrong with my daughter, but she was dying gradually,” she said. ‘She could
neither eat nor drink. But when we came to Primus hospital they told us it was
ulcer. Today my daughter is well and ready to return to school.”
A civil servant, Kal
Samuel, who had his shoulder fixed at the hospital, said the “hospital might
just be victim of competition and hostile environment arising also from the
Indian style of refusing to play game the Nigerian way”.
The management of the
hospital refused comment, owing to a court case it had pending in an Abuja High
court; but the Managing Director and Chairperson of the Hospital, Dr. Achla
Dewan in an interview with journalists in Abuja recently, asked rhetorically
the “what offence have we committed by bringing this investment to Nigeria”.
Findings revealed that
Nigerians spend approximately N180 billion annually on foreign medical trips.
Most of such funds and resources find their way to developed nations and India.
Dewan said their
intention to come to Nigeria was to bring Medicare closer to Nigerians, because
they constitute their major patients abroad; adding hat high number of
Nigerians coming to India becomes a source of concern to the Nigerian High
Commission in New Delhi, later, the High Commission then contacted her.
“It’s very
disappointing, we’re helping humanity, we’ve come all the way, our doctors,
it’s easy for us to come all away to start a hospital because Nigerians need
it, she said.
On qualifications of
the Indian doctors, she said the process of recruiting the medical personnel
was thorough and in line with the guidelines of government of Nigeria.
Primus hospital
commenced operation in April 2011, after it entered into an agreement with the
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) based on Public Private
Partnership (PPP). The idea was to build a complete five star international
hospital, it was then decided that since FCDA had an existing facility, it was
better to contract it through the PPP model.
FCDA authority lease
40 per cent of the health facility, leading to the commencement of work. And
after formalities, Primus Hospital commenced operation.
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