Bioethics and Covid 19: Critical Reflections on Public Health Sector Corruption in Nigeria

Abstract

Generally characteristic of poor nations are special or vulnerable populations of the poor, especially the helpless and malnourished. The global health phenomenon Covid 19 brings to the fore an interplay of how the physical and mental health of a citizenry could either mitigate or contribute to the deepening of vulnerable populations. With particular reference to Nigeria, the paper critically examined the bioethical dimensions of the content of governmental responses to covid19. A philosophical commentary, the paper carried out critical and analytic reflections on data gathered from existing literature on governmental responses to Covid19 in Nigeria. The major finding is that the phenomenon of corruption is not only an established ethical threat to the Nigerian nation, but also a threat that has deep bioethical implications for the health sector in Nigeria; a phenomenon which the paper conceptualized as a twindemic (that is, a combination of Covid pandemic and Corruption pandemic). In its quest for sustainable healthcare for vulnerable poor populations in Nigeria, the paper deepened discussions on the need to fight corruption in the health sector - through conscious adoption and implementation of appropriate bioethical policies and frameworks.