The West African Health Sector Unions Network (WAHSUN) has decried high rate of continued travel to foreign countries to seek medical care by affluent Nigerians.
The union said that Nigerians spend an average of $1billion yearly on medical tourism, adding that doctors are leaving Nigeria for the United Kingdom, United States of America and others due to poor healthcare facilities and appalling conditions of service.
The Country Programme Director, West Africa Solidarity Centre, AFL-CIO, Sonny Ogbuehi, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation meeting and advocacy planning session on ‘healthcare is a human right’ campaign, organised by Solidarity Centre AFL-CIO.
Ogbuehi said: “The research serves as a basis for advocacy to pressure government on the need to invest more in healthcare of its citizens. Medical tourism is a huge issue because when COVID-19 happened all borders were closed and government officials were asked to seek medical treatment in Nigeria.
“So, it serves as an eye-opener to the country on how we need to equip our healthcare and invest more on healthcare and spend less on medical tourism. According to the report, Nigeria spent one billion dollars yearly and about $11 billion within the last 10 years. That’s a lot of money.”
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA), John Odah, called on governments to ensure that 15 per cent of their yearly budget is devoted to upgrading healthcare facilities to meet the minimum requirements set up by the Africa Union.
Odah said: “Medical tourism is caused by neglect of medical facilities by various governments, both the federal and state governments and other members of the ruling elite that engage in this cause tremendous haemorrhage to our foreign exchange.
“It is a case of being penny wise pound foolish. If the successive governments have invested in upgrading medical facilities, a lot of this medical tourism would not have happened because if somebody is sure that if he is sick, he goes to a standard hospital, the hospital takes care of him or her or her relations, there won’t be any need to go abroad.”
He urged the political class, legislators, members of the executive and ministers to take a practical step in ensuring health facilities are upgraded.
In her presentation, the Programme Officer, OTUWA, Precious Mbat, said: “Nigeria has the largest population of informal workers in the African region and one of the largest in the world. With over 80 per cent of the active working population in Nigeria work in the informal economy.”
She noted that government need to invest in the provision of more healthcare facilities, drugs and recruitment of medical personnel in poor communities while health insurance schemes should be made to be more inclusive as informal sector workers find it difficult to access healthcare in private hospitals.
Also, a member of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwife (NANNM), Nurse Faith Akabogu, said if the welfare of health workers in the country is not enhanced, doctors and other medical workers will continue to seek greener pastures abroad.
