On a global scale, Nigeria has some major health challenges to contend with, not least of which is that it has one of the worst health indices in the world, currently rated 187th out of 191 WHO member countries. Research has suggested that poor healthcare delivery and a lack of good emergency medical services are major contributing factors to the high morbidity and mortality rates. But one woman entrepreneur is making great strides to change these statistics. Dr Ola Orekunrin, founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria, has built an award winning air ambulance service that is saving lives every day.
According to medical experts, one of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria in terms of providing emergency health care is the distance of major health facilities, which are far away from the rural communities; poor road and communication network; lack of vehicles to convey patients in emergency state or critical health conditions out of the area; lack of medical equipment for resuscitation among others. Flying Doctors Nigeria specializes in air ambulances, medevac, medico-logistics services, remote site medical solutions services, medical infrastructural development and medical training services. With its Head Office at the International Airport in Lagos, Flying Doctors Nigeria operates stations manned by specially trained medical doctors across the country from where real-time responses are affected.
Flying Doctors Nigeria founder, Dr Ola Orekunrin, says: “Flying Doctors Nigeria has since its 10 years of operation supported and encouraged Nigerians to embrace this means of transporting critically ill patients and those in painful medical condition. Flying Doctors Nigeria is dedicated to bringing trauma care to the most remote parts of Western Africa.”
She adds: “Flying Doctors Nigeria plans to invest over $10million in the next five years in the sector, across West and Central Africa on new aircraft, operations, medical equipment, staff training and medicines expanding access to the most remote parts of the region.”
Meeting Nigeria's health emergency demands with Flying Doctors
Until now, Nigeria, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), has one of the worst health indices in the world. In fact the country was rated 187th out of 191 WHO member countries. Also, Nigeria is ranked 74th out of 115 countries, based on the performance of some selected health indicators by the World Bank.