Electricity Tariffs Burdening Nigerian Hospitals, Threatening HealthcareElectricity Tariffs Burdening Nigerian Hospitals, Threatening Healthcare Soaring electricity tariffs have dealt a devastating blow to hospital operations across Nigeria, prompting calls for urgent government intervention. The recent increase in tariffs has severely hampered private hospitals, which provide 70% of the country’s healthcare. The Guild of Medical Directors of Nigeria (GMDN) has reported the closure of eight hospitals in Maiduguri alone due to the financial strain. According to the GMDN, private hospitals face additional challenges such as multiple taxes, high import costs for medical equipment, brain drain, and rising drug prices. They have appealed to the government to address these issues to prevent further hospital closures. Dr. Richard Okoye, Chairman of Doctors Save a Life Foundation, has warned that the Band A tariffs could transform hospitals into “morgues.” He cited the example of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) demanding a monthly bill of N25.3 million for a single hospital, an unsustainable cost for healthcare providers. Okoye emphasized that electricity is vital for healthcare, enabling surgeries, supporting life-saving equipment, and preserving medication effectiveness. He warned that inadequate lighting and power outages can compromise patient safety and lead to preventable infections and other complications. He also highlighted the impact on patients, such as diabetics who rely on insulin, which requires proper refrigeration. The lack of reliable electricity could hinder their access to essential medications and put their lives at risk. Concerned citizens like Dester Okeke have also expressed concerns about power outages during emergencies, which have resulted in the loss of life for babies and accident victims. The situation has raised serious concerns about the deteriorating state of healthcare in Nigeria. If the government fails to intervene and reduce electricity tariffs, the consequences could be catastrophic for the health and well-being of the country’s citizens.
BY ADA DIKE
The recent increase in electricity tariffs has so affected hospital operations in the country that Nigerians have called for tariffs to be reduced to avert disaster.
Consider the earlier complaint by the Guild of Medical Directors of Nigeria that the increase in electricity tariffs is hampering private hospitals, which provide 70 percent of health care. It even went so far as to close down about eight hospitals in Maiduguri, Borno State recently.
The Guild made this announcement during its 2024 National General Meeting, which was held in Lagos this year.
The medical directors further indicated that besides the increase in electricity tariffs, the hospital owners also pointed to multiple taxes, high cost of importing medical equipment, brain drain and rising drug prices as other factors hampering the operations of private hospitals in the country.
They called on the government to intervene quickly to prevent other hospitals from going bankrupt.
The Chairman of Doctors Save a Life Foundation, Dr Richard Okoye, said that Band A tariffs could turn hospitals in Nigeria into mortuaries, noting that high electricity costs were hitting many hospitals in Nigeria.
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Okoye stated in a video chat he posted online. He revealed that Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) sent him a letter containing what they called Band A, which stated that their monthly power bill would be N25,300,000.00 (Twenty-five million, three hundred thousand naira) per month.
He stressed that hospitals are not business centers. “Hospitals provide essential services to society.
“We are already struggling with doctors leaving the country. Most health systems are already struggling. If something is not done soon to reverse that decision, Band A epidemics will turn hospitals into morgues. The epidemics could have been prevented, unfortunately,” Okoye warned.
He stressed that power is the lifeblood of healthcare and that patients regain hope when there is light in a hospital.
He further indicated that most emergency and anesthesia medications retain their effectiveness with light.
A report already states that about 20 percent of hospitals have already closed. This again, to drain the hospital even more, it will get worse,” he said
In addition, Okoye said that in most cases, a diabetic will not notice any effect from insulin. The protein content is probably already reduced, because there is no energy to conserve the insulin.
“I saw something during my medical appointment where an elderly woman was going to have surgery, and she was being given anesthesia. The anesthesiologist asked the woman, “How are you?” She said, “I’m fine.” He increased the dose to see if the woman would be able to sleep. “Mama, how are you?” She said, “I’m fine.” Everyone looked at each other. If we had said the woman was an alcoholic, it would have been a different story. The anesthesiologist increased the dose and asked her again, “Mama, how are you?” She asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Everyone asked Mama to come down. After evaluation, it was discovered that the medicine was original, but not properly preserved.
“That means diabetics in Nigeria right now have to brace themselves because most of them who are dependent on insulin will not see a way to buy the drug. They may have to travel miles to find a hospital that has a constant light to make sure they are taking it. It is going to be a disaster with this band A,” he reiterated.
Further, Okoye revealed that university hospitals and other medical centres used to enjoy a relative form of light because they may get paid like other people. “They don’t relegate them to Band B so that they share the energy with people who they feel can pay, at the expense of the health of the people.”
He claimed that: “Power is what determines whether a surgical procedure will be successful or not. It determines the outcome of every operation before and after. If the instruments are not properly sterilized, it is a death sentence for people. If nothing is done now to stop this development, society will have to brace itself for infections that will be acquired through hospitals. The type that will emerge will be the type that is resistant to all the antibiotics that we know of.
“Even if we do it right, the worst will have already happened if something is not done now to stop the already possible mutation of those organisms because they are allowed into an environment without electricity.
“My heart broke when a university hospital packed up its own instruments to sterilize them in another hospital because they had no light there.
“What is the level of consultation? If you are working on something from economic indices per individual or group of people to overrule the health of the people in this country?” Okoye asked.
In another development, a 28-year-old woman who works as a nurse at a hospital in Ogba, Lagos, complained to Saturday Times about the electricity and medical charges as her husband was forced to pay the sum of N600,000.00 for her caesarean section at a private hospital in Ayobo, Lagos.
According to her, the hospital management cited the huge amount of money they spend on lighting as one of the reasons for the increase in hospital bills in Nigeria. She stressed that the hospital charges lower than many other hospitals in Nigeria currently charge.
Also a concerned citizen, Mr Dester Okeke, said power outages in hospitals during emergencies have led to many babies and accident victims.
“Even if you are a millionaire or a billionaire, the lack of proper healthcare can kill you. They can take you to the hospital and then you have no oxygen or electricity. You are gone with all your money,” Okeke lamented.
