September 18, (THEWILL) – Uche Edochie, son of veteran actor Pete Edochie, on Friday said he has spent over six million naira recovering from COVID-19.
The visual artist disclosed this on his Instagram account as he reflected on the cost of accessing healthcare for those infected with the disease in Nigeria.
According to him, he contracted COVID-19 a few weeks ago and initially thought he had malaria.
He stated that when he eventually discovered it was COVID-19, the disease had damaged several parts of his body, including his lungs.
“When I fell sick weeks ago, I thought I had malaria. So I spent the first couple of weeks treating for malaria. By the time I realised this could be something else, it was too late. By the time I was rushed to the hospital, eighty percent of my lungs were damaged,” he wrote.
“I couldn’t eat or breathe and I was on oxygen for weeks. I couldn’t walk either and had severe chest pains. I kept blacking out. It felt like I was dying and waking up over and over again. I have never seen anything like this.
“The days turned to weeks and my recovery is going well. I am fully cured of COVID-19 now and I am able to walk a little. My lungs will take months to heal completely. So I am still on oxygen and other medications but I am back home.”
He said that he has fully recovered from the disease but his experience highlighted the high cost of accessing health care in Nigeria.
According to him, at the Lagos health facility where he was kept, he was charged N350,000 daily, adding that he spent 12 days there before he was moved to another centre.
He said that the huge cost of getting treatment for COVID-19 is the major reason people with the virus die in the country.
“Curing COVID-19 costs a fortune too and that is a problem. That is often why people die. The facility where I was treated charges N350,000 a day. I was there for twelve days before being moved to First Cardiology Centre in Ikoyi for my lung and heart rehabilitation.
“Total cost of my treatment so far has exceeded six million naira. I know a guy whose covid treatment cost seventeen million naira.
“Governments must invest in affordable treatment or more and more people will die. Affordable treatment is our last line of defense.
“We have tried lock downs, masks and vaccines and COVID-19 is still spreading. Even the vaccinated are still catching COVID-19,” he said.
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