Since the 1983 military coup in Nigeria health services have been declared a major priority of the military regime. This health priority, along with professed commitments to popular welfare and to the resolution of economic problems, constitutes the declared raison d'etre for intervention. Rather than being a solution, the various reforms which are integral to the overall economic austerity programme have, however, escalated the crisis situation in health care. Aside from the increasing incidence of nutritional disorders directly traceable to the austerity measures, there is more exclusion of the majority from available medical services on the one hand, while privileges such as overseas treatment at public expense continue for top government officials on the other. These obvious contradictions between professed commitment and actual practice are explained against the wider dynamics of economic crisis and attendant adjustments.
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