OVER 5,000 Nigerians travel to India and other
countries monthly for medical treatment, the Nigeria Medical Association said on
Monday.
As a result, Nigeria loses over $500m annually,
with $260m going to India.
The President of NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, WHO
said this at a press briefing to herald the Physicians’ Week with the theme:
‘Prescription Rights—its Abuse and implications for the Health of Nigerians’,
regretted the situation.
The NMA challenged political leaders in the
country “to stand in the same queue with ordinary Nigerians to seek medical care
and conduct health checks in public hospitals”.
Enabulele said, “Years of systemic decay by a
lack of political commitment, cancerous levels of corruption and mismanagement
of our collective wealth have adversely affected the health sector even such
that today, our political leaders seem not to have confidence in health care
facilities established by them.
“Available evidence shows that over 5,000
Nigerians visit India and other countries every month for medical tourism with
lots of these Nigerians faced with various risks and challenges, including
misdiagnosis, legal and ethical issues, exposure to infectious diseases, as well
as other complications, particularly post-surgical complications.
“On the average, between $20,000 and $40,000 is
said to be spent by a traveller on each health trip. Records also show that over
$500m is lost annually by Nigeria on account of medical tourism to countries
outside Nigeria. Indeed, it has been shown that India earns over $260m from
medical tourism from Nigeria alone. It has been projected that this year India
will realise between $1bn and $2bn from a medical tourism market worth over
$20bn.”
The NMA boss added, “One of the problems plaguing
Nigeria’s health care system is gross abuse of prescription rights facilitated
by factors such as poor regulatory and legal framework, poverty and
out-of-pocket financing of health care, poor governance, high level illiteracy
and a weak health system.
“Whereas the existing National Drug Policy
clearly asserts that only licensed medical and dental practitioners are
permitted to prescribe drugs and medicines on account of their competence to
make diagnosis; in Nigeria, virtually everyone prescribes drugs.”
He called for appropriate legislative, regulatory
and educational measures to change the situation.
