Many Nigerians aren’t able to access primary health care, according to numerous studies into the country’s public health system. Now, an enterprising Lagos doctor has set up in a market to treat traders forced to prioritize work over their own health.
In Nigeria’s bustling markets, where traders work from dawn to dusk, health often takes a back seat. Many market women and men prioritize their businesses over doctor visits, sometimes ignoring health issues until they become serious problems.
Now, the traders have become familiar with another business plying for trade in the marketplace: Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo, a health entrepreneur.
Ayo-Oyalowo recognized the need to bridge the gap in healthcare access for underserved communities. Rather than waiting for patients to visit clinics, she brings healthcare directly to them. She sets up mobile medical stations in the markets, offering consultations, health screenings, and minor treatment at affordable rates.
Ayo-Oyalowo says her Market Doctors initiative has reached over 400,000 patients, creating greater accessibility to basic medicine and treatment.
“Market Doctors is as a result of the experience I’ve had in the healthcare sector. One, I found that people could really not afford medical care, so you see people discharging themselves in hospitals against medical advice. But they got to this point because they didn’t have access to primary healthcare,” she says.
“There’s a hidden cost of healthcare: the cost of transportation, the cost of not going to work, and the long queues. So, by bringing healthcare to people in their natural habitat, we’ve cut out all of those costs so they can add healthcare to their shopping bags.”
Ayo-Oyalowo launched the project in 2017, and she employs 17 people and works with hundreds of volunteers. Some of her funding comes from private or corporate donations.
Market Doctors say their services are subsidized, and they are able to partner with major pharmaceutical companies for drugs and consumables.
People who need more intensive care are referred to hospitals.
This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.
[Market]
[People in a market]
[Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo and her colleagues looking around the market]
[Dr. Yetunde treating patients, checking blood pressure and examining traders]
[Market]
[Dr. Yetunde checking the blood pressure of a trader]
Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo (interview): “Market doctors is as a result of the experience I’ve had in the health care sector. One, I found that people could really not afford medical care, so you see people discharging themselves in hospitals against medical advice. But they got to this point because they didn’t have access to primary health care. And that’s what Market Doctors does, just gives the primary care to people so that they don’t need the secondary care. The other thing is that people cannot afford health care, there’s a hidden cost of healthcare: the cost of transportation, the cost of not going to work, and the long queues. So by bringing health care to people in their natural habitat, we’ve cut out all of those costs so they can add health care to their shopping bags.”
[Trader being attended to at Market Doctors clinic]
Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo (interview): “It’s lifesaving. For some people, this is the first time some people are going to have their blood pressures checked. For some people it is the first time they’re going to have face-to-face consultation with a medical doctor.”
[People waiting at the Market Doctors clinic]
[People at market]
Dr. Blossom Maduafokwa (interview): “So this happens when medical professionals go into communities, basically bringing healthcare to where the people live and work. So when this happens there’s a reason why it’s happening. It’s happening because there’s a healthcare access gap and individuals are trying to fill this gap. So you have, whether it’s civil service organisations, sometimes individuals, whether you have non-governmental organisations, religious organisations taking up this role because they have identified that there’s a gap that somebody needs to fill. So that is why we have some of these community health outreaches or community healthcare services.”
[Dr. Yetunde doing tests on a market trader]
Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo (interview): “Looking at our work across the country, across the six geopolitical zones really, I think the highest diagnosis we make is malaria on the field, and this is made by rapid diagnostic kits, people who test positive to it. But close to these ills, we’re having about 36 to 40% of the people we see having malaria, and they’re being treated with ACT (artemisinin-based combination therapy).”
[People walking past market stalls]
[Market Doctors staff talking at a butcher’s stall inside a market]
[Trader being tested by a member of Market Doctors]
Lola Adegboyega (interview): “I like going there because I feel free talking to them, and that is why I prefer the Market Doctor more than an outside hospital or clinic.”
[Testing being done on a market trader]
[Dr. Yetunde talking to trader Fatima Yusuf]
Fatima Yusuf (interview): “You know we market women (traders), we don’t like going to hospital, we don’t like going anywhere except doing our job. So, by them coming to this market to meet us, it’s very good, it’s even very easy. At least like five minutes, we leave our job, then go to them; they attend to us, we come back to our shop to attend to our customers. So it’s very, very easy for us.”
[Dr. Yetunde talking to trader]
[Trader being examined by Yetunde’s staff]
Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo (interview): “With the aid cut, a lot of people are going to be affected. A lot of clinics, even government clinics, run on these funds. A lot of some private clinics, NGOs, run on these funds to treat millions of people in Nigeria. Even in some places where deliveries are being taken, it’s been taken by using these funds. So, there’s going to be a lot of issues as regards health for people. And the truth is that some people are really poor, and they cannot afford it. So, we’re going to record more deaths really as a result of withdrawal of these funds.”
[Dr. Yetunde speaking to a meat seller about his health]
[People walking in a busy market street]
Dr. Blossom Maduafokwa (interview): “That disparity in access to good healthcare, you have people trying to fill the gap, you have quacks, you have people that are not qualified, you have people, nurses, you have community health workers trying to fill the gap and that greatly impacts the quality of care.”
[People walking through the market]
[Market]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.