Nigeria's market doctors bring healthcare directly to traders

A Lagos doctor has set up in a market to treat traders forced to prioritise work over their own health. The Market Doctors initiative has reached over 400,000 patients.

In Nigeria’s bustling markets where traders work from dawn to dusk, health often takes a back seat.

Many market women and men prioritise their businesses over doctor visits, sometimes ignoring health issues until they become serious problems.

Now the traders have become familiar with another business plying for trade in the marketplace: Doctor Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo, a health entrepreneur.

Ayo-Oyalowo recognised the need to bridge the gap in healthcare access for underserved communities.

Rather than waiting for patients to visit clinics, she brings healthcare directly to them.

She sets up mobile medical stations in the markets, offering consultations, health screenings, and minor treatment at affordable rates.

"Market Doctors is as a result of the experience I've had in the health care sector. One, I found that people could really not afford medical care so you see people discharging themselves in hospitals against medical advice. But they got to this point because they didn't have access to primary health care," she says.

Ayo-Oyalowo launched the project in 2017 and she employs 17 people and works with hundreds of volunteers. Some of her funding comes from private or corporate donations.

"There's a hidden cost of healthcare: the cost of transportation, the cost of not going to work, and the long queues. So by bringing health care to people in their natural habitat, we've cut out all of those costs so they can add health care to their shopping bags."

It's desperately needed work in Nigeria where the World Health Organization has recommended there be 10 doctors per 10,000 people - in reality there are just 4.