CHALLENGES OF HEALTH DEVELOPMENT AT LOCAL LEVELS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL EXAMPLES IN BRITAIN AND NIGERIA

Abdur-Rahman Olalekan Olayiwola

Department of political science

Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Health is wealth. A Healthy Nation is a wealthy Nation. This paper is about a comparative view of health development challenges at the Local Levels in London Britain and Egbeda Oyo State, Nigeria. The paper compares and contrasts health development in the two societies with the objective of identifying the variables which determine whether and to what extent health development in the systems can be implemented. It also specifies the constraints which limit the range of options effectively available to Local Government Councils and health policy – makers at the Local Level in Britain and Nigeria. The paper examines the rhetoric versus reality on Health Development at the local level and concludes that;

• Local governments are not alone among the levels of government in their failure to provide comprehensive health development programmes;
• The local governments lack a comprehensive policy of health development at the local level in general and particularly on the health hazards caused by many factors including environmental pollution;
• There is a total dependence on seeking foreign medical attention and treatment which ensures that Nigeria is unable to properly regulate health development and various hazards on health;
• The failure of government has forced ordinary people, the primary victims, to engage in self-help medication and measures in an effort to stop fake health practitioners from the reckless destruction of people’s health and life;
• There are fragmentations of policies, overlapping and unclarified responsibilities on health development matters at the Local Level