Written by Chioma Obinna
Plagued by the $2 billion annual capital flight Nigeria spends on medical tourism, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA and other partners on Thursday laid out a strategy in Lagos that includes the introduction of public-private partnerships to reverse the trend. .
They agreed that the introduction of public-private partnerships in the health sector will increase sustainability and efficiency.
According to the NMA, many Nigerians travel to countries such as India, the United Kingdom, and the United States each year in search of medical care.
They say the economic damage from these trips has been a concern for stakeholders for years and is contributing to the decline in foreign exchange reserves.
NMA President, Professor Bala Audu, in a submission titled “Strengthening the sustainability and efficiency of Nigeria’s private healthcare sector to reverse medical tourism” at the association’s Healthcare and Medical Expo. , said that the healthcare industry is valuable from a global perspective. 12 trillion dollars, and will expand to 18 trillion dollars by 2028, of which Nigeria’s share is only 6 billion dollars.
He said that, ironically, Nigeria is a major exporter of medical professionals in the world.
“The global market for medical tourism is over $100 billion and is expected to reach $180 billion by 2030, and Nigeria contributes to this as a patient exporter with over $2 billion in annual capital flight into medical tourism. I am doing it.”
“Unless we intervene as a nation, the situation is predicted to get much worse.”
Audu explained that the situation is expected to worsen unless the state intervenes.
He noted that while the global market for medical tourism is expected to reach $180 billion by 2030, Nigeria is contributing as a patient exporter with an annual outflow of more than $2 billion to medical tourism. .
He explained that in light of the situation, the decision has been taken to take steps that will help the country reverse medical tourism so that Nigerians do not have to travel out of their homes to seek medical care.
“Some of our recommendations are that the government needs to review the remuneration of health workers, ensure workplace safety and put in place the equipment that allows doctors to function most effectively.
“The challenge we face now is to do our best to ensure that those who decide to remain in this country receive the same quality of care that was provided to them before they left. and as a result, there is a lot of burnout; hospitals are overcrowded for some time due to the high workload and limited number of medical professionals available to provide these services. We hope that if we can reverse brain drain and turn it into brain gain, this trend will be resolved.
“Nigeria has great hospitals, especially in the private health sector. One of the objectives of this expo is to bring out the capabilities available in this country. We want to show prospective Nigerians that what they seek abroad is available at home in many of our excellent health care sectors, both public and private.”
To retain doctors in Nigeria, the NMA chairman called on the government to implement existing policies.
“There are already existing policies that need to be implemented, such as the National Policy on Retention of Healthcare Workers, which includes healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists, and all key personnel in the health sector. Implementing this policy just once can help retain health care workers, improve hospital retention rates, and increase health care worker retention. enough to enable them to become more dedicated and rededicated to providing the necessary health services to their citizens.
“The other is to ensure that the equipment and tools needed to diagnose and treat patients are available within health care facilities. Governments should also consider reducing out-of-pocket costs.”
In his address, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, said the state has a bed deficit of about 66,288 beds, with a total of 34,995 beds in the private sector and 3,717 beds in the public sector. It was revealed that there was.
He said the state would need at least 66 general hospitals to fill this gap.
Meanwhile, the First Vice Chairman of the NMA, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, in an interview enumerated the importance of reversing medical tourism in the country, to provide people with the opportunity to know about healthcare in this country. He added that the association must take the lead. Medical indicators, medical professionals and available medical services.
NMA First Vice-President Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, who is also the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the Olowojebutu Expo, in an interview enumerated the importance of reversing medical tourism in the country, adding that the association must take the lead. He said it would not happen. Provide people with the opportunity to learn about the country’s medical indicators, medical professionals, and available medical services.
Olowojebutu, who is also the chairman of the Expo’s local organizing committee, asserted that partnerships with private equity and private institutions will greatly contribute to solving the problem.
“Our hospital performs 16 kidney transplants every month. We have a hospital that can perform cardiovascular surgeries within hours. Hospitals from as far as Niger and Mali come to see what we do.” he added.
