Findings have indicated that Nigerians expended approximately $7.43 million, equivalent to about N8.3 billion, on healthcare services abroad from June 2022 to June 2023.
According to The PUNCH, the figure was obtained from the Balance of Payments database of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It was gathered that expenditures on healthcare services abroad during the latter half of last year (June to December 2022) exceeded the amount spent in the first half of this year (January to June 2023).
Specifically, the expenses for the second half of last year amounted to $4.3 million, while the costs for the first half of this year totaled $3.13 million.
The detailed breakdown of the report reveals the following expenditure on medical tourism:
In 2022, the figures were as follows: $0.42 million in June, $0.46 million in July, $0.80 million in August, $0.44 million in September, $0.62 million in October, and $0.78 million each for November and December.
For this year, the spending was as follows: $0.34 million in January, $0.32 million in February, $0.38 million in March, $0.50 million in April, $1.28 million in May, and $0.31 million in June.
Numerous Nigerian leaders and politicians opt to seek medical treatment abroad, primarily due to challenges in the nation’s health sector, inadequacies in primary healthcare, deficient medical facilities, the issue of brain drain, and outbreaks of diseases, among other factors.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari frequently sought medical treatment abroad, accumulating a significant number of days spent outside the country for medical reasons, including his wife, Aisha, and son, Yusuf, who also received treatment abroad. Additionally, President Bola Tinubu and several other political leaders have opted for foreign hospitals.
In response to the report, the President of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, Prof. Aminu Muhammad, emphasized that the optimal moment to address and reverse the prevailing trend of medical tourism in the country is the present.
“The government and the medical practitioners can reverse the trend. You know that the affordability of people travelling will be restricted to a few people because of the rising exchange rate, so the best time to reverse the trend is now, everybody wants the forex to be okay, and now is the best opportunity to do so.
“In every part of the world, the government does not do it on its own, the government needs to deliberately encourage the private sector and that can be done if the government gives room to encourage them.
“For instance, there are ways to encourage private health practitioners who have the skills, the equipment, and the environment that is similar to what is obtained elsewhere.
“There should be an arrangement where the government can be the guarantor to allow high medical equipment to be supplied to individuals with the requisite skills to run those machines. There should also be low-interest loans for people who want to advance their practice and people can have access to well-equipped services and practice,” he said.
