NMA seeks end to foreign medical trips

WORRIED by the huge foreign exchange loss through medical tourism to India and other countries, the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA), Cross River State chapter has called on Nigerians to stop the practice.

Rising from a one day Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme organised by the state chapter of NMA in collaboration with Kelina Hospital, Abuja, the association said Nigerians should discontinue the incessant foreign medical trips since equipment for handling cases like prostate cancer, kidney stones, kidney cancer, kidney transplant, gastric pathologist and urethral strictures among others were now available in the country.

The State Chairman of the association, Dr. Offiong Ikpeme, explained that some hospitals in Nigeria could now compete favourably with the best medical facilities in the world in terms of surgeries and other complex health challenges and we should now look inward rather than spending so much to go abroad for services that are available in the country.

Ikpeme opined that the problem faced by the health sector in the country before now was lack of equipment to handle critical cases, noting, “Kelina Hospital for instance has equipment such as holmium laser, ultrasonic lithotripsy and others for endoscopic surgery, laparoscopic surgery and also high definition cameras.

“Why spend money going abroad for kidney transplant and kidney stones removal when we could handle them here?”

A Consultant Pathologist with National Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Paul Jibrin, appealed to relevant authorities to create awareness not only to stop the stress of going abroad for treatment, but to curb capital flight as well.

He said, “If you go abroad, you’ll see trained Nigerian doctors. The best neuro-surgeon in United States is a Nigerian. Our problem was equipment, but many private hospitals owned by rich Nigerians have brought these equipment into the country.

“Today in Nigeria, sound wave can be used to break kidney stones without operation. Nigerians should take a medical tour of some of our private hospitals and see what they are capable of doing.”

In his contribution, Dr. Celsus Undie, Consultant Urologist, Kelina Hospital, appealed to Nigerian politicians to lead by example by stopping foreign medical trips.

Dr. Friday Odey, Consultant Paediatrician with University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), said the seminar was to update participants’ knowledge about developments in the medical field, particularly on kidney, bladder and prostate cases.

To confirm the availability of these equipment in Nigeria and the efficiency of Nigerian doctors, various slide shows of operations carried out in Nigeria were exhibited.