UN's Sustainable Development Goal 3, which promotes health and well-being for all, helps balance healthcare provision and healthcare financing, as well as addressing various challenges faced by ordinary citizens. The complexities of healthcare access and financing were clearly shown in a moving life experience of a 13-year old Nigerian orphan named Praise Sunday during a church service on Sunday 12th February 2017 at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), Lagos, Nigeria.
In an armed robbery on May 8th 2016, Praise Sunday tragically lost his mother and sister. During this ordeal, the young boy, whose father passed away several years earlier, sustained life-threatening injuries to his throat.
Praise and his extended family members sought medical assistance across Nigeria, depleting their financial means as he underwent seven surgeries. Left with a tracheostomy tube in his throat which enabled him to breathe, he was completely unable to talk and communicated only through writing. In September 2016, they sought aid at The SCOAN, a religious institution known for its extensive charitable endeavours. The General Overseer, T.B. Joshua, through the humanitarian arm of his faith-based organization, financed a delicate and complex health procedure carried out in Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Specialists, Dr Martin Vanlierde and Professor Mark De Groot, undertook the corrective surgery to restore Praise's ability to both breathe and speak normally again. The procedure was successful and his speedy recovery exceeded expectations. The total cost of Praise's travelling expenses, welfare and medical bills was US$50,000 - all financed by T.B. Joshua's faith-based organisation.
During a live broadcast of his story on Emmanuel TV, T.B. Joshua addressed the congregation, encouraging faith leaders and medical doctors to work together to address the societal conundrum, related to healthcare access today. He said: "If God's servants and doctors work together, there will be no limit to what they can achieve. The medicine doctors use comes from nature and our God is the God of nature."
The SCOAN has previously financed other medical trips, including a Nigerian policeman who received more than $25,000 to be flown to India for a complicated medical procedure to restore his damaged urinary system after he was shot by gunmen during duty hours.
With their collaborative effort, faith-based organisations, such as The SCOAN, which helped turn a young boy's ordeal into an inspiring story, can largely enhance healthcare access and its financing.