The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has decried the growing trend of Nigerian political leaders seeking medical care abroad, saying it is a major indictment on the country’s crumbling health system.
NMA’s first vice president, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu stated this during an interview on Arise Television, monitored by our correspondent, Tuesday night.
Dr. Olowojebutu lamented the continued neglect of the health sector, noting that about $7 billion is lost annually to medical tourism.
This, he noted signified a clear sign of the lack of confidence in the country’s healthcare system.
“Right now, we have about $7 billion leaving the country on medical tourism every year because we don’t trust our system. The government has failed Nigeria’s health space. We now have one doctor to about 10,000 patients,” he said.
The NMA vice president further criticised what he termed the double standards of Nigerian leaders who, despite presiding over underfunded hospitals and a broken healthcare infrastructure, opt to seek medical attention abroad, often at the expense of taxpayers.
“I think it’s important we know that you can’t say Nigerians should be patriotic and you as a leader can’t do the same. It’s been a lot of problems over and over again, that leaders leave the country in jeopardy, leave the country in this bad state, and use taxpayers’ money to go abroad to get themselves sorted. I think it’s not very good,” Olowojebutu said.
Reacting to the recent death of former President Muhammadu Buhari in a London hospital, Dr. Olowojebutu questioned why leaders often die in foreign medical facilities.
“How many of the presidents of those countries died outside their countries? In America, we just lost Jimmy Carter a few months ago. He died in America. That’s what you talk about, loving your country. Why would you go and die outside your country? You don’t trust the health professionals?” he asked.
He lamented that there is no value for healthcare nor passion for the country. “I will keep saying, think about Nigeria first. The leaders are not thinking about Nigeria first.
“Health is supposed to be the right of every patient in this country, but right now, health looks like it’s very, very secluded, only for leaders that can afford to travel abroad at the tinkle of an eye,” he lamented.
Olowojebutu also criticised the importation of foreign health policies that do not reflect Nigeria’s realities. “The policies are just ‘copy and paste’ policies, because people don’t know what’s really important for Nigerians.
“We have people coming in with policies that are taken from the U.S. or from the U.K. that are not very applicable to Nigerians and for Nigerians,” he said.
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