A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM ACCESSIBILITY

ABSTRACT: Nigeria has a population of approximately 200 million people. Health services are provided through a network of over 4,700 health facilities countrywide, with the private sector ac-counting for about 51% of these facilities. The best quality of care is found at the national referral hospitals, which provide diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services. Nigeria spent 5.1% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on healthcare in 2002. Life expectancy is also on the decline. In 2006, the child mortality rate was 78 per 1,000 live births. Among the Nigerians who are ill and choose to seek care, 200% were hindered by cost and corruption. Another 18% were hindered by the long distance to the nearest health facility. Basic primary care is provided at primary healthcare centers and dispensaries. The pur-pose of this paper is to create awareness of the current healthcare system in Nigeria, its accessibility and enlighten on storage healthcare records. The research questions were: What is the current situation on healthcare accessibility in Nigeria? What are the benefits of introducing a computer -based system in the Nigerian health sector? The results give a clear picture and what the healthcare system in Nigeria operates and how the accessibility of healthcare facilities is experienced by the Nigerians. Some Nigerians are unable to access healthcare services due to various reasons. One of them is the distance to the health centers in relation to transport and urgency for treatment. Another problem is the cost of healthcare especially in the rural areas where a good number of civilians are below poverty level. There are also the benefits that the healthcare system will gain from introducing a computerized method of medical record storage to better identify the patients and render better healthcare services.