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Abstract

This study examines the lack of access to quality healthcare delivery for the broad majority of Nigerians using Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in Rivers State as a case study. The paper argues that corruption and mismanagement are the linchpins for the lack of access and the provision of quality healthcare delivery for the citizens of Nigeria. In spite of the nation's abundant resources and financial solvency due largely to oil revenues, there is very little awareness by successive leaderships both military and civilian rule of the need to confront the pressing problem of healthcare. As a consequence, today, a child born in Nigeria lives to be only 44 years old, which is 3.3 years less than a child born in the United States at the beginning of 20th century before any breakthrough in drugs to prolong life and other advances made in medical science and technology. Most of the illnesses of the vast majority of citizens are not diagnosed early during treatable phase due to the lack of access to quality healthcare. The primary method employed in this study is secondary source along with in-depth personal interviews using a purposeful sampling process. The study findings identified five broad areas as the reasons for the lack of access coupled with poor service delivery in a public healthcare system, namely: (a) poor funding; (b) lack of equipment: (c) personnel; (d) absence of health promoting public education; and (e) lack of awareness and access to available services. The study major implications are the fact that owing to poor hea lthcare funding, the huge economy burden of healthcare expenditure rests on the shoulders of individuals particularly, in a society where a sizeable number of citizens are abjectly poor. This state of affairs results in needless untimely deaths of untold number of people who cannot access healthcare services.

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