Nigerians spend N664bn annually on medical tourism – FG

The federal government, yesterday, said that Nigerians spend between $1.2 and $1.6 billion (N664bn at 415/$) on medical tourism annually.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this during a guided tour of Duchess International Hospital in Lagos, said this had been a drain on the country’s foreign reserves.

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He, however, said the federal government was determined to stop the trend through several health interventions and provision of the enabling environment for private-sector driven enterprises like Duchess to thrive.

He disclosed that the federal government, through the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), invested $5.5 million each in two diagnostic centres in Kano and Umuahia, and another $11.5 million in the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre in Lagos.

Mohammed described the 100-bed Duchess as a purpose-built, state-of-the-art hospital aimed at delivering the highest standard of healthcare using the most advanced technology and treatments to provide Nigerians with the best medical expertise available anywhere in the world.