Medical ethics in sub-Sahara Africa: closing the gaps.

Background: Health care providers are expected to have the skills and knowledge relevant to their field and should also be familiar with the ethical and legal expectations that arise out of the standard practices.

Objectives: To elucidate the practice of the health care providers in relation to healthcare ethics in Nigeria.

Methods: A self-administered structured questionnaire was devised and distributed to staff of two tertiary health care facilities in Northern Nigeria. The questionnaire comprised of detailed questions regarding day-to-day aspects of Medical ethical issues.

Results: A total of 307(76.2%) out of 403 health care providers responded to the questionnaire. The median age of the respondents was 34 years. More than half 168(54.7%) of the respondents disagreed as to whether "Ethical conduct is important only to avoid legal action. Many respondents 135 (44.0%) agreed to adhering to "patient's wishes", on the other hand over two-third of the respondents 211 (68.7%) agreed that "doctor should do what is best" irrespective of the patient's opinion. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between the perception of physicians and non-physicians on many ethical issues.

Conclusion: This study has shown gap in knowledge and practice of healthcare ethics among health care providers. There is a need for periodic education on clinical ethics in our hospitals.