Tradition in transition. A health opinion survey in Ibadan, Nigeria.

During the course of a cancer survey carried out in lbadan, Nigeria, from 1960-63, the apparent low cancer incidence rates, particularly in the elderly, raised questions regarding the use being made of the available modern medical facilities by the population at risk. The fallacies inherent in any incidence survey of disease based solely upon hospital diagnosed cases are exaggerated in a developing country. Particularly was this likely to be the case in lbadan, where the University College Hospital had been opened only in 1957. Although it was continually besieged by patients, nothing was known of its reputation in the eyes of the city's remaining inhabitants. Ibadan is the administrative, commercial, and educational centre of the Western Region of Nigeria, but it still retains, both in its architectural and occupational structure, many of the features of the large Yoruba villages which are characteristic of this part of Nigeria (Lloyd, 1960). In 1962 Ibadan had a population of approximately 479,000. The city is extremely well off by African standards in respect of its medical services, since, in addition to the University College Hospital, which is staffed and equipped in a manner comparable to any teaching hospital in the Western hemisphere, it is also served by the Government general hospital of Adeoyo, a Government nursing home for senior civil servants, a Catholic mission hospital, and a number of private clinics run by general practitioners. In 1963 the total number of Ibadan hospital beds was 920 and there were 145 doctors in the town, a bed-patient ratio of 1: 540 and a doctor: patient ratio of 1: 3,300. Attendance figures at the major hospitals indicated a high demand for the available services. During the period 1960 to 1963, approximately 30,000 new lbadan patients were attending University College Hospital per year, Adeoyo hospital received some 93,000 new Ibadan patients per year, the average