Nigeria can reverse medical tourism, says NMA

The National President, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Bala Audu, says Nigeria’s health sector has potential to reduce and reverse medical tourism despite the rising challenges in the sector.

Audu spoke at a news conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the end of the association’s National Executive Council meeting.

He stated that despite the challenges, Nigeria currently offered high-end medical care in various public and private health institutions.

He added that the medical facilities was not just to Nigerians, but to patients coming from other parts of the world.

“We have identified that indeed, in spite of the challenges we face, Nigeria actually, currently, within the country, offers high-end medical care in various public and private health institutions, not just to Nigerians, but to patients coming from other parts of the world.

” Nigeria has the great potential to reduce medical tourism out of this country to the barest minimum by creating adequate awareness to Nigerians about the facilities available within the country so that they can take advantage it.

“Beyond that, we also have the potentials to actually bring in flow of both financial and other economical benefits to this country by revising medical tourism in favour of this country,” he said.

Audu noted that it was important for Nigeria government to maintain its health workforce, particularly specialised and sub-specialised medical and dental professionals who had acquired great skills that are in high demand by patients from different parts of the world.

He stated that Nigeria must create a competitive, mutually beneficial workplace environment for the doctors who provided the services and for those who employed the services of these doctors by ensuring improved total work packages for Nigerian doctors .

The national president called on the federal government to fulfil the memorandum of understanding signed with Nigerian doctors to ensure that they are implemented as a way of improving the inputs that doctors and health care workers made into the health care delivery .

“This will produce improvements in the total outcome of our health population indices.

“At this meeting, we have clearly studied Nigeria’s health system, the potential for this path, and the challenges going forward,” he said.

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