HEALTHCARE

SITE AWARDS
JOBS IN NIGERIA & BEYOND
NIGERIAN ORGANIZATIONS
SEND FREE WEBCARD
IMMIGRATION
ONLINE AFFILIATES
LINK TO SITE
HOMEWORK HELP
USEFUL UTILITIES
THE LOVE ZONE
OTHER LINKS ON NIGERIA
LINK EXCHANGES
SCAM INFORMATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRO
THE GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION

MAP

STATES, CAPITALS, & LINKS

LAND & CLIMATE

RIVERS

TOWNS & CITIES
PATRIOTIC STUFF

FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

NATIONAL ANTHEM

NATIONAL PLEDGE

MOTTO
PEOPLES

POPULATION

RELIGION
     -CHRISTIANITY
     -ISLAM
     -TRADITIONAL
     -INFLUENCE

ETHNIC GROUPS
     -YORUBA
     -IBO (or IGBO)
     -HAUSA (& FULANI)
     -OTHERS
CULTURES & CUSTOMS
LANGUAGES & INTRO

LANGUAGES
     -YORUBA ALPHABET
        & LANGUAGE
     -IBO ALPHABET & LANGUAGE
     -HAUSA ALPHABET
        & LANGUAGE
     -LINKS TO OTHERS

LANGUAGE RESOURCES
     -GENERAL RESOURCES
     -YORUBA RESOURCES
     -IBO RESOURCES
     -HAUSA RESOURCES
     -OTHERS
MORE ON LANGUAGES
     -NUMBERS
     -PEOPLE
     -BODY PARTS
     -HOUSE PARTS
     -PLACES
     -OTHER WORDS
ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES
NAMES & ORIGINS

YORUBA NAMES
     -THE NAMING CEREMONY
     -COMMON PARTS
     -CIRCUMSTANTIAL NAMES

IGBO NAMES

HAUSA NAMES

LINKS ON NAMES
MARRIAGE & FAMILY

THE WEDDING

MARRIAGE TIDBITS

FAMILY TIDBITS

OTHER SOURCES
FOODS AND DRINKS

INTRO

SOME MEALS

SOME DRINKS
RECIPES

RECIPES

LINKS
FOOD: BUYING & DINING

BUYING (ingredients and food)

DINING (restaurants)
HEALTHCARE

TRADITIONAL HEALTH

CURRENT HEALTH POLICY

INFO FOR TRAVELERS

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

TRADITIONAL HEALTH
CURRENT HEALTH POLICY
INFO FOR TRAVELERS
OTHER LINKS
HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

TRADITIONAL

Traditionally, health was taken care of by 'medicine-men'. These medicine-men were trained to know the different herbs and roots, how to prepare them, which ailments they cured, how to administer them, etc.

Of course, with the incoming of modern medicine, Nigeria does have many 'modern' hospitals and clinics. Nowadays, doctors and nurses are relied on more for the curing and preventing of diseases, rather than the medicine men.

However, in Nigeria, as in other parts of the world, people are realizing that sometimes herbal remedies can be just as effective as modern medicine, and they don't usually have the long-term side effects that other medications can have. And they have been proven to work in certain situations.

I guess the point of this section is to point out that sometimes a combination of herbal and modern medicine is what is needed, and both should be evaluated for the treatment of ailments.

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CURRENT HEALTH POLICY

National Health Policy in Nigeria

The goal of the National Health Policy is to bring about a comprehensive health care system, based on primary health care that is

promotive
protective
preventive
restorative and
rehabilitative

to every citizen of the country within the available resources so that individuals and communities are assured of productivity, social well- being and enjoyment of living.

The health services, based on primary health care, shall include among other things:

education concerning prevailing health problems and the methods of preventing and controlling them
promotion of food supply and proper nutrition
material and child care, including family planning
immunisation against the major infectious diseases
prevention and control of locally endemic and epidemic diseases
provision of essential drugs and supplies.

There is a three-tier system of health care, namely: Primary Health Care, Secondary Health Care, and Tertiary Health Care.

Primary Health Care

The Provision of health care at this level is largely the responsibility of Local Governments with the support of sate ministries of health and within the overall national health policy. Private medical practitioners also provide health care at this level.
Secondary Health Care

This level of health care provides specialized services to patients referred from the primary health care level through out-patient and in-patient services of hospitals for general medical, surgical, pediatric patients and community health services. Secondary health care is available at the district, divisional and zonal levels of the states. Adequate supportive services such as laboratory, diagnostic, blood bank, rehabilitation and physiotherapy are also provided.
Tertiary Health Care

This level consists of highly specialized services provided by teaching hospitals and other specialist hospitals which provide care for specific diseases such as orthopedic, eye, psychiatric, maternity and pediatric cases. Care is taken to ensure an even distribution of these hospitals. Also, appropriate support services are incorporated into the development of these tertiary facilities to provide effective referral services. Similarly, selected centers are encouraged to develop special expertise in advantage modern technology to serve as a resource for evaluating and adapting these new developments in the context of local needs and opportunities.

To further the overall national health policy, governments of the Federation work closely with voluntary agencies, private practitioners and other non-governmental organizations to ensure that the services provided by these other agencies are in line with those of government.

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INFO FOR TRAVELERS

Here are some links that can provide useful information on health especially for foreigners visiting Nigeria.

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HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

Here are a list of some health organizations that deal with Nigeria:

Pro-Health International
WHO: Nigeria
Third World Foundation
Nigeria Family Health Services Project
Good Heart Foundation
ECWA Community Health Care Pilot Program in Nigeria
African Journal of Reproductive Health
Malaria Foundation International
Save-A-Child Surgery Project (I have not found a web site, but here is an article that I read about them in April 1999.)
International Committee of the Red Cross: Nigeria
International Women's Health Coalition: Africa
Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas
Global Alliance for Africa
Medical Care Development Inc.
United Nations Population Fund
PathFinder in Nigeria
SIECUS in Nigeria
Independent Group for Health in Africa
USAID in Nigeria
Ife Project (from University of Kuopio)
African Networks for Health Research and Development
Association of Nigerian Physicians in America

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