Nigeria Loses over N3bn To Medical Tourism Annually - Adewole Folorunso

Investigations has review that Nigeria is said to lose about 1
to 3 billion naira annually from its citizens
seeking medical care abroad.

According to Medical Tourism Association's
Research, Surveys and Statistics, Nigeria is
said to lose about 1 and 3 billion every year
due to the medical tourism culture.

The Nigerian Minister for Health, Professor
Adewole Folorunso, before being appointed
Minister, during a ministerial screening in
Abuja, confirmed that Nigeria has "lost
between 1 and 3 billion naira yearly to
medical tourism".

The Medical Association, according to its
annual report in 2014, disclosed that
according to the Indian High Commission,
Indian hospitals received 18,000 Nigerians on
medical visas in 2012, and about 47 per cent
of outbound medical tourism from Nigeria go
to India, spending about $260 million
USD. Estimations show that by 2015, India
will receive about half a million medical
tourists annually.

Recently Nigeria is said to be at the top of the
medical tourism list of Africans going to India
for medical attention.
The country leads by 42.4 per cent, while
other African countries among those
involved in this trend are South Africa,
Tanzania, Egypt and so on.

It is also reported that India's pharmaceutical
exports to Africa increased from $247.64
million in 2000 to a whopping $3.5 billion in
2014.

Furthermore, in a 2013 statistics by the
Research and Information System for
Developing Countries (RIS), out of 275,271
tourist arrivals in India, Nigeria accounted for
34,522. Out of 34.522 Nigerians, 42.4 per
cent were there for medical purposes.

This reasons are usually hinged on a number
of factors like the lack of appropriate and
modern facilities in our tertiary centres,
inadequate human capacity development that
matches the modern technological
advancement, incessant work disruption
occasioned by workers' strikes, lack of
information on facilities and services
available in the country, the tendency to
patronise foreign goods and services, as well
as unethical commercialisation of referral
system.

A tourism expert has explained medical
tourism as undertaking a trip as part of
medical care, going to that destination to
seek medical care, to seek for health
services provided in that area. This can be
done for many reasons. The reason for the
trip is principally to get treated and pay for
health services.

"Medical tourism is becoming an obstinate
situation, a second nature to Nigerians who
can afford its expenses. We hear of high
profile government officials patronising
hospitals abroad, these are not to mention
several other Nigerians, whose stories have
not been documented by the media, leaving
the country for preferred medical treatment
overseas.

While there is no law that states that
Nigerians cannot go on medical tourism, or
be treated in their preferred hospitals/
medical facilities, it is worrisome to many
because of the capital flight caused by
medical tourism. With the increase in
numbers annually, and the capital lost to the
country, what is the federal government
doing to improve on health facilities here in
Nigeria so as to develop the country's
economy?

"The former Minister of Health, Professor
Onyebuchi Chukwu attributed the lack of
standard medical facilities in the country for
medical tourism, stating that by Private
Public Partnership arrangement, the
government intends to transform some
centres. The years go by, and the question
asked is this; 'What is government doing to
improve on those centres and the much
needed medical expertise to prevent this
increasing capital flight?'

Courtesy: leadership weekend.

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