Health workers, patients groan as naira scarcity worsens in Lagos

By Oluwafunke Ishola

Many patients have continued to grapple with hardship amid the cash crunch that has worsened access to healthcare services in most hospitals in Lagos State.

A check on Monday showed that the situation had worsened as healthcare workers were stranded due to unavailability of cash for transport fare.

Mrs Adetoun Gbadegesin, a nurse at a primary healthcare centre, said that many health workers at her facility were absent from their duty post due to paucity of funds.

“Movement within Lagos is getting difficult for many people, especially now that the old naira notes are no longer acceptable as legal tender.

“I tried to source cash at four Point of Sale (PoS) centres but the operators have no cash, I had to walk halfway before joining a bus to work because of insufficient cash with me.

“Many of my colleagues who live far away cannot make it to the office and the burden of attending to these large numbers of patients falls on just a few of us,” she said.

Also, Uche Nwogwu, a trader, said he was apprehensive on how to restock his medications, as e-payment channels had failed in spite of several transaction attempts.

“I was fortunate to get N1,000 from a PoS operator which I used for transport to the hospital to take my final injection.

“I wanted to take the injection on an empty stomach as the food vendors around the axis didn’t open because they couldn’t stock up food stuff.

“The nurse refused to give me the injection on an empty stomach, she insisted that I take water and biscuits. It’s so sad that I have money but can’t access it to take care of myself,” he said.

Nwogwu appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that payment channels are robust and reliable to aid seamless financial transactions.

Similarly, Dr Tunji Akintade, a former Chairman, Association of Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, said that the naira crisis had almost halted activities across all sectors just like COVID-19 lockdown.

Akintade said that many hospital owners had been challenged with operating with few staff, increasing overhead cost worsened by prolonged fuel scarcity and naira crisis that made many patients unable to pay their healthcare bills.

According to him, some patients’ health was deteriorating due to inability to access prompt medical attention while some died as they stayed away from hospital.

He noted that the disruptions, hardship, mental and physical pain experienced by the citizens showed that Nigeria wasn’t fully prepared for an integrated cashless system.

Akintade appealed to the government to be humane in implementing the policy, saying no policy should bring suffering, irrespective of how well intentioned.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Oct. 26, 2022, announced the introduction of redesigned 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes into the financial system.

The CBN gave Jan. 31 as deadline for the phasing out of the old notes.

However, since the notes was unveiled on Dec.15, Nigerians across different parts of the country have been struggling to access it from banks and Automated Teller Machines.

This made the CBN to extend its deadline to Feb. 10.

A Supreme Court order issued on Feb.8 restrained the bank from going ahead with its policy ending the use of the old notes on Feb. 10.

President Muhammadu Buhari, however, on Feb.16, extended the acceptance of the old N200 bill as a legal tender for the next 60 days.

He ruled out extension for the old 500 and 1000 naira notes as legal tender. (NAN) (nannews.ng)