Socio-Economic Status and Utilization to Healthcare in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria and indeed African Countries as a whole attached great importance to improvement in socio-economic well-being of their citizens. The desire of successive governments in Nigeria towards the provision of quality healthcare services has not yielded positive results essentially due to socio-economic challenges, including a high rate of poverty and hunger, insufficient food production, unstable fiscal and economic policies, mismanagement of resources, large-scale corruption; and a worsening security situation, among others. There is a strong linkage between socio-economic challenges and the attainment of quality and sustainable healthcare delivery services, as well as general improvements in the living conditions of the Nigerian people. Improvement in people's health and living conditions can only be achieved through a significant reduction in poverty levels, sufficient and adequate food production, and the attainment of improved security of lives and properties, among other requirements. The Theory of Change was adopted as the theoretical model, while a descriptive research design was used for the study. Secondary data sourced from journal reviews, articles, books, and reports from international organisations and national policy documents related to socio-economic indices such as healthcare, poverty, and food insecurity were used, and content analysis was employed. Major findings indicated that a high rate of poverty and hunger, insufficient food production, large-scale corruption and worsening security situation were major factors responsible for the low quality and ineffective healthcare situation in Nigeria. The study concludes that significant reduction in poverty and hunger, sufficient and adequate food production, as well as appreciable reduction in corruption level, among others, will contribute to improvement in healthcare delivery services, while it recommends economic revitalisation and total overhauling of the country's security system as a panacea to achieve socio-economic development in Nigeria.