Medical tourism drains Nigeria’s finances, undermines confidence in local healthcare – NAUTH CMD
The Chief Medical Director of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, NAUTH, Nnewi, Professor Joseph Ugboaja, has revealed that medical tourism abroad is a drain pipe for Nigeria’s resources.
Ugboaja said that what is even more painful is that it also erodes confidence in healthcare in Nigeria, leaving Nigerian practitioners feeling inferior to their counterparts in other countries.
The medical expert stated this on Thursday when he appeared on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch West Africa television programme, where he spoke about a recent Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed between Nigeria and Brazil.
He said: “Every year, thousands of Nigerians travel abroad for medical treatment, spending billions of naira in the process. This is a drain not just on the nation’s finances but also on confidence in the local healthcare system.
“The funds we lose to foreign hospitals can be retained here, boosting our economy while strengthening the health system.
“But the Nigeria–Brazil collaboration, however, presents a chance to reverse that trend. This partnership can help grow medical tourism within Nigeria,” he explained.
Speaking on the partnership, he said: “The recently signed Nigeria–Brazil Five-Year Action Plan for Healthcare is an agreement I believe could be a turning point for the country’s health sector.
“It is a welcome development, and it has potential to reshape Nigeria’s medical landscape through knowledge exchange, advanced research, and specialised training programmes. Beyond the technical benefits, the MoU could gradually transform Nigerian federal hospitals into credible alternatives to outbound medical tourism.”
He made a case for federal tertiary hospitals, including Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital — which he recently moved to its permanent site and expanded to world-class standard — saying that the new partnership could totally uplift them.
“At the heart of this vision are the federal tertiary hospitals — a network of institutions that includes federal teaching hospitals, federal medical centres, and specialist medical centres.
“They are the frontline drivers of the MoU, and have their threefold mandate of clinical services, research, and training. It is through these pillars that Nigeria can deliver higher-quality care to its citizens while building the capacity of its health workforce,” he said.
He cited the infrastructural expansion and human capacity development he has championed at NAUTH, highlighting the hospital’s strategic alignment of its nine institutional pillars with the four strategic pillars of the Federal Ministry of Health, a move that ensures the hospital’s growth contributes directly to the federal government’s wider reform agenda.
He commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, saying that the reform agenda is encapsulated in the Nigerian Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which is a cornerstone of today’s healthcare transformation, under the guidance and commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
COURTESY: dailypost
