Kano Centre Moves Against Medical Tourism, Brain Drain

In its quest to curb medical tourism and brain drain in Nigeria, the Kano Independent Research Centre Trust (KIRCT) has opened a global standard hospital for the treatment of diseases of the heart and kidney as well as cancer in Kano.

Responding to questions from newsmen, yesterday, the head of the newly opened KIRCT Kilimanjaro Hospital in Kano, Professor Jamilu Ismail, lamented the current brain drain in the country in which specialists and medical personnels leave the country in search of greener pastures due to lack of facilities.

He also lamented the rate of medical tourism which he said is costing the country over $2.0 billion annually, insisting that there is need to curb the situation by providing the needed services.

He explained that Nigerians seek treatments of diseases that have to do with the heart, kidney and even cancer when they go on medical tourism. He added that if such facilities are provided in the country it will discourage medical tourism and improve the country economically.

He said KIRCT opened the global standard hospital in order to curb both medical tourism and discourage brain drain.

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„Currently, medical tourism is a big business and Nigeria is losing a lot to medical tourism. Some studies have shown that Nigerians spend between $1.5 billion to $2 billion annually on medical tourism especially for heart diseases, kidney diseases, for cancer and for other diseases as well.

„So, because of that, we have challenges in our hospital settings, maybe due to lack of equipment, and currently we are also having an issue where a lot of our specialists and doctors are leaving the country.

„Because of that we felt it is an opportunity that if we can provide these services we can curtail that medical tourism.

„Instead of people leaving and going to other countries, they have to look for visas, pay for tickets, pay for accommodation elsewhere, you can come comfortably here within the vicinity of your immediate family and culture and receive the needed medical care. You will also receive good quality services.

„We are doing it in phases, in the first one year we are going to provide the general services of the highest quality. Then in the second year we are going to start the high end services like treatment for heart diseases, kidney diseases and other high end medical and surgical problems.

„Perhaps in the next two years we should be able to compete favorably with other countries that are providing healthcare at a particular quality level,“ he stated.

Meanwhile, the hospital will begin by providing clinical services like Cardiology, Endocrinology, Pulmonology, Pediatrics and Antenatal.

In his goodwill message, the Emir of Gaya, Aliyu Ibrahim Abdulkadir, who was represented by Jafar Usman, the District Head of Dawakin Kudu praised the good work of the organisation and called on the public to exploit the good services to be provided by the facility.