I write to remind you of the promise you assuredly made during all your presidential campaign tours that you would end medical tourism abroad, but your promise is likely to end up unfulfilled.
We have well-recognized hospitals in Nigeria. Why shouldn’t you lead by example by using Nigerian doctors and facilities and ensure government officials do not go on frivolous medical trips abroad?
Are Nigerian health centres not well equipped or are Nigerian doctors not well qualified for use? There are more than 3,000 indigenous Nigerian-trained doctors in the UK, and 5,000 such Nigerian assets working there. Do they render medical services there because of our bad health centres?
This is a national shame. We have to rehabilitate our health care centres for both elite and commoners’ use.
On May 10, 2019, Nigerian authorities said the country was losing more than $1 billion annually to medical tourism as tens of thousands of Nigerians travel abroad in search of the best treatment. Nigeria’s Health Ministry said it was building several world-class health centres to address the issue. But not even the country’s president seems to trust health care centres in Nigeria.
Instead of continuously losing humongous amounts of funds on medical tourism, it is better to use the tax payers’ money, improve the qualities of our health centres and make them functional. If this is achieved, then those who have penchant for travelling abroad for medical attention could maximize the potentialities of the hospitals which would go a long way in improving our revenue generation base.
It has become imperative for the Federal Government to resuscitate all the dilapidated hospitals in the country, since it is not all Nigerians that have the financial resources to travel abroad for medical attention.
Mallam Musbahu Magayaki
