Vwaere Diaso: Doctor killed in elevator of Nigeria’s oldest general hospital
On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Vwaere Diaso, a young Nigerian doctor undergoing her housemanship at Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan, fell to her death when a faulty elevator collapsed to the ground from the 10th floor.
Her death has sparked a new wave of outcry over negligence of safety in some Nigerian hospitals.
Dr Diaso, who completed her medical degree at Babcock University, was less than a month from completing her Housemanship before she died in extraordinary circumstances when an elevator collapsed to the floor on her way to collect her meal from a dispatch rider.
Housemanship is a compulsory one-year program in which newly qualified medical doctors are attached to a hospital and undergo training in different core departments.
Two days before her death, Dr Diaso, on July 31, 2023, one of her last activities on social media was a post she shared on Twitter mourning the demise of Angus Cloud, an American actor.
Queen Eddie, a former schoolmate of Diaso, in a social media post, described Diaso as friendly and ‘superb’.
“With you, every time was superb. You were an amazing basketball player and teammate. We became closer off the court and hung all the time despite the fact you were a medical student with your tight schedules; you were still always friendly and social. Not for once have I seen you without a smile,” Eddie wrote.
Eddie, who’s yet to respond to Neusroom’s message, also claimed Diaso did not die on the spot but was rescued after nearly an hour, but the hospital she was rushed to had no blood.
She later died in the hospital from her wounds.
According to several tweets examined by Neusroom, staff and others who use the elevator at Lagos Island General Hospital have been complaining about the unsafe condition, but their complaints were not heeded by the management.
“Particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve maneuvered, managed, and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it, till it killed one of us,” Olanrewaju Aiyepola wrote on Twitter.
Another Twitter user, Dr Joy, claimed she had been stuck in the elevator but her plan to initiate a protest for the elevator to be fixed was stalled when her boss told her she was a nuisance.
“I got stuck in the elevator. We didn’t have a functioning pumping machine, we had to walk over those 10 floors to fetch water. I told us to strike; they sent screenshots of my message to the Oga and he said I was a nuisance and I should go into politics if I wanted to fight,” she said.
It has been years since doctors at the doctor’s quarters have been calling the attention of the management for the lift to be fixed.
Lagos Island General Hospital is Nigeria’s first general hospital, established during colonial rule as a British military hospital but was handed over to the Nigerian Government on October 1, 1960. Seven years later, on May 7, 1960, the hospital was taken over by the Lagos State government.
Unfortunately, years of negligence and disregard for safety by the management of the hospital have resulted in the death of a young Nigerian, who became yet another victim of mismanagement and little regard for human life.
Another popular Doctor on Twitter, with the handle @The_Bearded_Dr_Sina, and CEO of Lifebox Labs, claimed he was stuck in the same elevator three years ago.
“For context, 3 years ago, I also had the same experience on this elevator. I remember my friend and I panicking when the elevator got stuck. People have been calling for it to get fixed for three years. Now it has killed a Doctor,” he said.
Dr. Sina is demanding a probe into the incident.
While the Nigerian Medical Association (Lagos State) has demanded an investigation, the union ordered an indefinite strike of all three state government-owned hospitals on Lagos Island. This is amidst an ongoing strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
Among other things, NARD, which began a strike on July 26, 2023, is demanding that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria discontinue the practice of downgrading membership certificates issued by the West African Postgraduate Medical and Surgical Colleges, prompt payment of salary arrears, implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, a new hazard allowance, and the domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act.
