COMMUNICATION ON HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE KAINJI LAKE AREA OF NIGERIA

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 36  (1) , 91-102
Abstract
A study of the health care delivery facilities in the Kainji Lake area of Nigeria (an artificial lake created in 1968) showed that hospitals, a health center, maternal and child health centers, public health units, dispensaries and leper institutions, controlled by various organizations, are available. Dispensaries and leper settlements/clinics form the most numerous health providers in the rural areas. Analysis of 1973 data from 8 dispensaries around Lake Kainji showed that malaria, gastroenteritis, chest and skin infections, veneral diseases and schistosomiasis constitute the major health problems. Observations of the environmental sanitation in the study area support the idea that the diseases emanate particularly from the low standard of environmental health. A suggestion is made for the establishment of a central organization charged with the responsibilities for health planning and development. The evaluation of the impact of the dispensaries as health providers is needed for future health planning. A health care delivery system supported by operational research should be initiated at the village level.

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