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Some patients with high fever in Kano State cannot access healthcare service because doctors are turning them away, Daily Trust has learnt. Aminu Muhammad, a resident of Gandun Albasa told Daily Trust on Sunday that his sick father was rejected at the Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) when he was taken for medical treatment. “I rushed my sick father to AKTH in a critical condition but, we were rejected on ground that there was no bed to admit him. When we first arrived at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital, the doctor directed us to stay away from him,” Muhammad said.

“We waited for sometime before the doctor asked me some questions about the condition of my father. What annoyed me was that the doctor did not allow us close to him for him to examine my father. “Rather, he placed a chair about six meters away from him and when I told him that my father was suffering from high fever, he ordered us to leave the hospital that they do not have bed to admit him. I took him to Nassarwa Hospital and it was the same story. “Finally, he was admitted at Murata Muhammad Specialist Hospital and my father passed on after three days at Murata Muhammad hospital,” he said.

Others spoken to however mentioned other factors, such as overcrowding at the hospitals, as the cause of their predicament. Alhaji Ibrahim Habibu, a resident of Nassarawa GRA told Co that he recently took his older brother to Nassarawa Hospital for medical attention only to find the hospital’s A&E unit crowded with patients. “Despite the crowd, my brother was not rejected. He was attended to by doctors. He was given three drips before he was referred to Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital where he finally passed on.

At both Nassarawa and Murtala Hospital, he was attended to by doctors. Contrary to speculations, nobody rejects him at the two hospitals,” he said. Alhaji Aminu Muhammad, a resident of Gwale in Kano city told Daily Trust on Sunday that the situation is becoming alarming as many people are dying due lack of access to healthcare.

He said three elderly persons died in his area on the way to hospital last week Thursday, saying, “The sick persons were rushed to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital but eventually died before arriving at the hospital.”

Last week some bereaved families told Daily Trust that their relatives were on outpatient visitations to hospitals for various ailments but with the lockdown in force, coupled with the coronavirus scare at private health facilities, the deceased had some disruptions that kept them from accessing medical care, which might have resulted in their deaths.