Doctoring as business: A study of entrepreneurial medicine in Nigeria
- 1 August 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Medical Anthropology
- Vol. 12 (3) , 305-324
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.1990.9966028
Abstract
Medicine is often regarded as a philanthropic science in the service of humanity. Rather than universalistic humanitarian service (a la Hippocrates), this study of private practice illustrates that medicine has been commoditised and is now a lucrative business much like the sale of beer and other commodities. This growing medical enterprise is explained against the backdrop of the wider dynamics of the Nigerian political economy. The implications of this growing privatisation and commercialisation, of which the doctoring business is a part, are examined. It is concluded that it is only a question of time before entrepreneurial medicine completely eclipses the beleaguered public medical system.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Health services inequalities in NigeriaSocial Science & Medicine, 1988
- Power and privileges in medical care: An analysis of medical services in post-colonial NigeriaSocial Science & Medicine, 1987
- Background to the development of health services in NigeriaSocial Science & Medicine, 1987
- Underdevelopment and the health care crisis in NigeriaMedical Anthropology, 1985
- Health Care for Some: A Nigerian Study of Who Gets What, Where and Why?International Journal of Health Services, 1985
- Towards the Proletarianization of PhysiciansInternational Journal of Health Services, 1985
- Accessibility to general hospitals in rural Bendel State, NigeriaSocial Science & Medicine, 1984
- Rural Health under Colonialism and Neocolonialism: A Survey of the Ghanaian ExperienceInternational Journal of Health Services, 1982
- Policy and practiceSocial Science & Medicine, 1982
- A Larger Perspective on the Flexner ReportInternational Journal of Health Services, 1975