HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR INMATES OF THE NIGERIA PRISON

HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR INMATES OF THE NIGERIA PRISON

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Despite Nigeria’s success in democratic, economic, and political reforms, the country’s prisons have yet to have a significant impact on the wellbeing of its inmates.

A recurring discussion among contemporary academic circles, criminologists, health professionals, and prison experts is how to create an adequate health template for proper prison management that reflects its goals.

Even if criminality and other vices must be discouraged, inmates’ health must be effectively cared for during and after imprisonment; thus, it is critical to be logical and rational in terms of health service while in custody.

Seven years into the new millennium, health for all prison inmates in Nigeria and other African countries remains a mirage. A recent study of African prison health systems paints a bleak picture of poor performance (Africa Regional Health Report, 2006).

The failure to offer excellent and fair access to prison health care services, due to a reliance on Western health care frameworks, has exacerbated existing health disparities in many African countries, particularly in Nigerian jails.

This arrangement also places the poor and the rich, urban and rural people, prisons and the “free” on opposite ends of the production spectrum of health care delivery in Nigeria.

When the health of certain groups, such as convicts, is evaluated critically, a clear illustration of this unfavourable equation emerges. Evidence has linked important determinants of health in modern communities to economical, political, and cultural issues, and hence health disparities have persisted across cultures, socioeconomic class, gender, and ethnicity (Bambra et al., 2005).

In the social sequence of events, prison convicts are typically from the lowest parts of society, and they face greater disparities in access to appropriate health care services. This experience exacerbates inmates’ pre-existing health problems (de Viggiani, 2007).

As a result, the current push to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals demands a stronger push from the Nigerian government. Health is political, and control over it is part of a larger economic, social, and political system (Bambra1, et al., 2005).

Thus, achieving both qualitative and quantitative health among special populations, such as jail inmates, may be a long way off, given prison authorities’ and the government’s delayed approach to addressing prisoners’ health requirements.

As a result, this study aims to engage in a sociological discourse on jail health within the social framework that produces it. This was accomplished by examining jail health in Nigeria as a social product. The research goes on to provide a plausible approach for achieving optimal jail health in Nigeria.

Statement of the General Problem

The unsavoury character of Nigeria’s prison health care system leaves one in doubt, with too many questions and fewer solutions, as the majority of people become more prone to diseases and infections than they would have been if they had never been incarcerated and committed more heinous crimes.

Officers and men in Nigerian prisons have not taken detainees’ health seriously, and many are clearly dissatisfied with their health-care delivery conditions.

Surprisingly, prison remains essential in correcting, reforming, and rehabilitating “perceived convicts” in Nigeria. It is concerning that recommendations and ideas offered to the government on jail health changes have yet to be adopted.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study’s primary goals are to analyse the health-care delivery system for inmates in Nigerian prisons. Other specific goals of the project include:

1. To investigate the health status of incarcerated inmates.

2. To analyse the environmental conditions of Nigerian prisons.

3. To measure the benefits of effective health care delivery in Nigerian prisons.

4. To investigate Nigerian jail improvements.

5. To investigate the obstacles of establishing an effective health-care delivery system for jail inmates.

6. To make recommendations for enhancing health-care services in Nigerian prisons.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the health conditions of Nigeria’s prison inmates?

2. What are the environmental conditions in Nigerian prisons?

3. What are the benefits of providing adequate health care in Nigerian prisons?

4. What are the Nigerian jail improvements that would enhance health-care delivery?

5. What are the barriers to establishing an effective health-care delivery system for prison inmates?

6. What are the strategies for enhancing health-care delivery in Nigeria’s prisons?

Research Hypothesis

H0: There are no barriers to a competent health-care system in Nigerian prisons.

H1: Nigerian prisons face difficulty in providing an adequate health care system.

Significance of the Study

The study will tremendously help the Nigerian prison service and the federal government by revealing the benefits of an effective health care system as well as the problems of implementing an effective health care system in Nigerian prisons throughout the country.

The study would also be extremely useful for students, researchers, and academics interested in conducting additional research on the issue.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study focusses on the delivery of health treatment to inmates in Nigerian prisons, utilising Ado ekiti, Ekiti state as a case study.

Limitations of the Study

Financial constraints: Insufficient funds tend to restrict the researcher’s efficiency in accessing important resources, literature, or information, as well as in the process of data collecting (internet, questionnaire, and interview).

Time constraint: The researcher will conduct this investigation alongside other academic activities. This will reduce the amount of time spent on research.