Basic Health Services in Nigeria: models for primary care in America

The basic problems in delivery of health care in the United States and in Nigeria are similar; the major differences are in magnitude. Nigeria's Basic Health Services Scheme, now being implemented, is a bold effort to make quality health care accessible to the entire population. American health planners should look to such developing countries for concepts adaptable to our own health care delivery system. In developing primary care programs in particular, they should consider three basic components of the Nigerian scheme: (1) delegation of appropriate responsibilities to non-physician health providers in order to augment physician manpower in underserved areas; (2) location of training centers in environments similar to those where the trainees will serve; and (3) use of home-based care records to increase patient participation in health care.