An Argumentative Essay on Privatized Health Care Centers – The Pros and Cons
The health sector in any developing or developed country is very important because it directly or
indirectly determines the life expectancy of a nation. Wikipedia defines private health care as
healthcare and medicine provided by entities other than the government. A weak health care
system is also an important factor that contributes to a countries poverty and inequity, because an
unhealthy person can’t move up and down to go to work or be fully productive, thereby the
individual earns less and falls down the social ladder unlike a healthy person. In this essay we
take a look at the patronization of the privatized health care center, its pros and the cons in
contrast to the government owned health care centers in different regions on the African
continent. “In most African countries, the private sector plays a more significant role than
government, especially when compared to OECD countries where public financing provides the
majority of resources.” (Marek, O’Farrell, Yamamoto and Zable 2005). In some developing
African countries like Mali, the government owned health care centers which are supposed to be
controlled by the government, either state or federal, mostly rely on foreign missionary groups or
international development organizations for the bulk of its healthcare. Also, in countries like
Nigeria, the government owned healthcare centers are faced with the recurring strikes of the
Nigerian medical association due to lack of payment of salaries, so doctors aren’t available to
attend to sick patients and this can sometimes lead to the death of some of these patients and in
turn adds to the mortality rate of the economy. The government owned healthcare centers in
Africa also deals with the problem of lack of new equipment and technologies needed to
diagnose and properly treat unhealthy individuals. All these and more are the reasons why
privatized health care centers are better than the government owned health care center in the
continent of Africa.
Now we can talk about the benefits of the privatized health care center in Africa. There
are a host of reasons why the privatized health care centers are much better than the government
owned health care centers which include provision of quick treatment, professionalism, freedom
to choose physician, room privacy, no guest hours, treatment by professional and experienced
doctors, special request, improved facilities and portability.
Provision of quick treatment
The first and probably the most valid reason why the privatized health care centers are better
than the government owned health care centers in Africa is the fact that when an individual visits
a privatized health care center, there are no long queues at these centers and you are prioritized
by your doctor when you’re getting sick. Also you can call your doctor anytime you want
because you pay to be prioritized by your doctor, unlike in government owned health care
centers where the queues are endless and you do not have a specific doctor assigned to your file
but a different doctor each time you visit these centers. Sometimes, it’s not even possible to see
the doctor on the day you visit the government owned healthcare centers and you have to make
an appointment for a later date.
Professionalism
In the government owned health care centers, there are cases of lack of professionalism and
humanity shown by health workers which lead to the death of so many individuals, all of which
can be avoided and most of the time these cases are not properly attended to when reported to the
authorities involved. “Over 90 per cent of deaths recorded in Nigerian hospitals are due to poor
attitude of health workers.” This is because at the end of the day, their monthly salaries are being
paid regardless of the type of effort they put in the job. But in a privatized health care center, an
individual’s health is the priority because if the individual dies because of the lack of
professionalism by a physician it spells the end of revenue generated from that individual and
also likely the physicians job because the chain of command to terminate the contract of the
physician is not as long as in the government owned health care center. “…private providers are
motivated to encourage patients to return, so responsiveness and effort are greater.” (Berendes,
Heywood, Oliver and Garner 2011)
Freedom to choose physician
In the privatized health care center, there is a freedom to choose a physician that will attend to an
individual for whatever reason the individual might have, for example a woman might prefer to
be treated by a male gynecologist instead of a female. You can also choose the most advanced
equipment to treat plus a host of other things to keep you healthy. But in a government owned
health care center, you are being attended to by whoever it is that is on duty and there is no
freedom of choice when it gets to an individual’s preference.
Room privacy
In the privatized health care center, there is the option of private rooms and bathrooms for
individuals that want to be in their own space or have a communicable disease provided they
have the money. Some of these private rooms come with air condition units, television sets, Wi–
Fi, satellite TV, even a sofa and a kitchen just to make the individual comfortable but in the
government owned health care center, there is no preferential treatment, sick individuals are put
in a ward except in cases of air borne disease patients that need to be isolated from the rest to
avoid infecting others in the case of tuberculosis and other such diseases.
No guest hours
In most government owned health care centers, there are strict visiting hours which might be a
problem for sick individuals who have a large family. There are also waiting rooms which every
member of the family might not be allowed into but in the case of privatized health care centers,
there are no restrictions on the hours at which relatives can visit, they can visit anytime they want
and it is not limited to the immediate family of the individual
Treatment by professional and experienced doctors
In the government owned health care centers, attending doctors are usually accompanied by
medical doctors in training because most government owned health care centers are attached to
government owned universities that offer medical courses and sometimes these doctors are the
