The Kano State Ministry of Health has reacted to the allegation that a pregnant woman, Shemau Sani Rabiu, died because her husband could not pay her medical bills with the new naira notes.
Reports last week alleged that the 32-year-old victim was left in pain for more than eight hours without attention from medical personnel in a hospital due to delay in delivery of deposit alerts.
The victim’s husband, Bello Ali Baffa, alleged that she bled to death while he was struggling to settle medical bills at the pharmacy through bank transfer.
The reports further alleged that the husband revealed how he spent hours waiting for the cashier to confirm payment alert of N8,528 for drugs because he did not have the new naira notes as the hospital had allegedly stopped receiving the old notes.
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Reacting to the allegations at a press briefing on Monday, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, described the reports as lies.
He said the victim was given maximum attention when she was brought to the hospital but unfortunately died.
The commissioner stressed that the victim was brought to the hospital unconscious on February 5, with a complaint of PV bleeding and cessation of foetal movement.
He explained that she was attended to by the doctor on call who gave her all the necessary first aid, including “setting of IV lines, taking of blood samples for grouping and cross-matching in preparation for blood transfusion, took urine sample and did a bedside analysis where he confirmed presence of protein in the urine.
“The doctor later did the detailed clinical examinations where he found her to have mild anaemia, a BP of 150/90mmhg with tachycardia and marked abdominal pain with absence of foetal heart sound.”
The commissioner emphasised that after the diagnosis, the doctor tried his best, with the support of other doctors, but that the woman eventually gave up.
He, therefore, debunked the media reports that she died because of the failure of her husband to pay new naira notes for drugs.
He also stated that it was the policy of the state government to give priority to patients at the emergency level without requesting any amount of money.
He said, “The policy of the government on management of all medical emergencies is clearly known and practiced by all the staff, especially those working in the accident and emergency units and labour rooms; that first aid management must be instituted to save life before any formality.”
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