Fixing Healthcare in Nigeria is a 40-page book written by Dr. Ola Brown. She is the CEO of Flying Doctors Nigeria, the first indigenous air ambulance service company in West Africa. Her new book, Fixing Healthcare in Nigeria, is her third book and she has made it available to download for free.
Speaking on the inspiration for the book and the format it was presented in, she said:
“It’s my sincere wish that you consider the modest proposals I forward in these chapters. Perhaps they will spur you to take a fresh look at how we manage healthcare in Nigeria and you might refine them even more or see other steps that we should consider.”
Read an excerpt from the book here:
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My younger sister died when she was 12 years old. Her death was so shocking, so earth-shattering, that we did not hold a burial or a memorial service. We did not speak of it at all.
It has been over a decade since her death, and I want to tell you about the person who brought so much joy into my life. I want to tell you about the sweet little girl who so deeply loved her family. And I want to tell you about the way she died—and how we could have saved her. She was born in 1992. When I first laid eyes on her, I fell in love. One of the most striking things about Busola was her kindness. Even at a young age, she tried to make breakfast for the entire family—an act that was both entertaining and incredibly touching. She was always trying to help, always serving, always thinking of others.
Even as she lay dying in the hospital bed—alone in Nigeria, without any family around her—she made a simple
request: “Pray for the other sick children around the world.”
Kindness. Empathy. Self-sacrifice.
These were what the world lost when she died. I lost my angelic baby sister. And even though her death continues to influence me, I know that her story is not unique. She is, quite literally, one in
a million. Children die every day in Nigeria. In fact, nearly one million Nigerian children die each year before their fifth birthday, according to the UN. To put this into proper perspective, imagine a Boeing 777: one plane carries approximately 350 passengers. Now, imagine a single Boeing 777, filled with 350 children,
crashing. There would be an international outcry, a full investigation, and a vow to make safety a national priority. To equal our national health crisis, you would need 3000 Boeing 777 plane crashes—every year. 10 crashes per day.
Every year, children like my sister continue to die—yet there is no press coverage, no national attention, all
while our sisters, our daughters, our brothers and sons continue to die in record numbers.
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To read more, download a copy here. It is a quick and informative read. Highly enlightening and it is something all Nigerians should read. So pass it on, share it with your friends, family, colleagues.
