Curbing Nigeria’s Medical Tourism

Medical experts in Nigeria have persistently been
drawing the attention of the government and stakeholders in the health sector
to the effects of unchecked medical tourism to overseas countries.

They moan that the health
sector has not been giving quality service delivery in spite of the huge amount
of money allocated to it in annual budgets, thereby compelling affluent
citizens to seek medical attention abroad.

Such views came into focus
recently when the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Sen. Ifeanyi
Okowa, announced that Nigerians spent about N80 billion annually on medical
treatment abroad.

He stressed that most
Nigerians are becoming increasingly worried about the standard of health
services in the country.

Sharing the same sentiments,
Dr Abdulwaheed Latinwo, the Chief Medical Director of the University of Ilorin
Teaching Hospital, underscored the need for the overhaul of the country’s health
care delivery system.

At the 7th Conference of the
Association for Advancement of Cardiovascular Surgery and Medicine in Ilorin,
Latinwo said that more than 3,000 Nigerians travelled to India every month for
medical treatment.

Of course, it is no longer
news that most of the well-to-do citizens travel abroad for their medical
treatment but observers insist that some of them die in the foreign countries
in spite of the countries’ advancement in the medical field.

Observers note that the trend
among affluent citizens is that they impulsively embark on overseas medical
trip for any ailment, ranging from minor sicknesses to major illnesses.

The perceptible trend has made
observers to conclude that the citizens have lost confidence in the country’s
healthcare delivery system and they, therefore, call for an urgent need to
reverse the trend.

Allaying the people’s fears,
the Minister of State for Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, stressed that efficient
healthcare delivery remained a top priority for the government and an important
element of national security.

Pate said that public health
involved the provision of adequate and efficient health care services to the
people and the ability to monitor and control outbreaks of disease.

“Currently, Nigeria’s state of
health is characterised by poor outcomes and quality and a lack of protection
from financial risks.

“Nevertheless, the country’s
health sector has not underperformed, relative to the health sectors of Egypt,
Ghana, and South Africa but Nigeria needs to accelerate progress,’’ he added.

The President of the Nigerian
Medical Association (NMA), Dr Osahon Enabulele, shares a similar viewpoint.

He argued that Nigeria was
endowed with enough human and material resources that could be used to revamp
the health sector.

“It is, however, unfortunate
that in spite of these resources, Nigeria has yet to achieve an ideal
healthcare system and this is the rationale behind the citizens’ eagerness to
seek medical treatment elsewhere,’’ he said.

Enabulele said that the NMA was
planning to address the challenges facing the health sector through its
National Health Summit, which would be held in Asaba between January 20 and
January 27.

He explained that the first
step towards enhancing the country’s healthcare delivery system was by
restoring the citizens’ faith in their country’s capacity to provide quality
healthcare services.

Enabulele, however, conceded
that the country had organised several conferences, summits and meetings on
different development topics, which had provided many documents without any
actual physical change.

He said that instead of
signing memoranda of understanding, the intent of the coming summit was to
develop pragmatic solutions to the country’s health problems.

“One of our plans at the
summit is to use the Governors’ Forum as a means of educating state governments
about the untapped potential of Nigerian medical practitioners,’’ he said.

The NMA chief stressed that
increased budgetary allocations to the health sector was not the only way
through which the governors could change the citizens’ perception about the
country’s healthcare delivery system.

“We have identified, as an
organisation, the lack of political commitment to healthcare and deficient
healthcare environment as some of the challenges.

“But if the governors at the
forum agree not to travel, as a first resort, to overseas countries for medical
conditions which can be managed here, I think that is a win-win situation for
all of us,’’ he noted.

Besides, Enabulele cited the
influx of uncertified foreign medical practitioners as another issue which the
governors should tackle.

He noted that in some cases,
such doctors came in at the expense of the state government to offer specific
medical assistance and boost the public reputation of the government.

While commending such efforts,
Enabulele stressed that in many cases, resident doctors were capable of doing
what the expatriate doctors were brought in to do.

“Bringing in foreign doctors
is also harmful because it reinforces the belief that Nigerian doctors are not
capable.

“The reason why all sorts of
foreign medical missions have unfettered access into Nigeria is the fact the
Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has been in a comatose for quite
some time.

“In the past, the task of certifying
all medical personnel practising in Nigeria, irrespective of their skin,
colour, country of origin or government was handled by the board of the MDCN.

“Unfortunately, the government
dissolved the MDCN without realising the professional implications of its
action,’’ he said.

Enabulele urged the government
to reconstitute the MDCN, which he called a regulatory council that would
primarily protect the health of the people.

He, however, urged Nigerians
to discountenance reports that rated the country’s health system as
sub-standard, stressing that such reports were not a true reflection of the
actual situation.

To live a healthy life, Dr
Joyce Barber, a health expert, advised the citizens to adopt good lifestyles
and eat healthy foods, while avoiding excessive alcohol, tobacco and other
harmful habits.

Barber, who is the President
of Medical Women Association of Nigeria in FCT, also urged the people to seek
prompt medical advice whenever they fell sick.

She stressed that it would be
grossly unfair to disparage the country’s health facilities when the people
were not making proper use of them.

“If an illness is not
incapacitating, people ignore it in the hope that it will go but the longer a
person continues to live under the condition without medical attention, the
greater the chances of complications.

“I encourage people to seek
medical help early and get their prescription because the earlier they get
help, the less the severity of their health condition and the temptation to
seek medical treatment abroad,’’ she noted.

To
check medical tourism, Latinwo urged the government to exhibit exemplary
leadership by compelling its officials and their families, no matter how highly
placed they were, to stay in the country for medical treatment.

He
noted that the country’s health sector had been neglected by the government
because its officials and their families could travel abroad for medical
treatment at the public expense.

Latinwo,
therefore, suggested that the government should establish more modern hospitals
and equip them adequately with essential facilities.

“World-class
medical centres that specialise in kidney and heart transplant, among others,
should be established in all geo-political zones of the country to drastically
reduce the rate at which Nigerians travel abroad for medical treatment,’’ he
said.

Further
to this, Latinwo urged the government at various tiers to introduce a policy
that would compel government officials to receive medical treatment locally.

He, nonetheless, stressed that
any official who was resolute on travelling abroad for medical treatment should
foot the bill to serve as a deterrent to others.

All said and done, experts
believe that Nigerians would be dissuaded from undertaking unnecessary trips
for medical attention abroad, while the country’s healthcare delivery system
would be strengthened.

Most medical doctors will have reliable medical equipment and other essential medical supplies before performing medical duties.

Okeniyi writes for NAN