Shut the door to foreign health tourism

The recent death of former President Muhammadu Buhari at a foreign hospital, where he was reportedly admitted around the same time with a former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has once again opened an old wound. It is a tragic reminder of the embarrassing and dangerous over-reliance of Nigeria’s elite on foreign health […]

The recent death of former President Muhammadu Buhari at a foreign hospital, where he was reportedly admitted around the same time with a former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has once again opened an old wound. It is a tragic reminder of the embarrassing and dangerous over-reliance of Nigeria’s elite on foreign health care. 

The situation has persisted for decades despite repeated calls for urgent reforms in our domestic health system.

We did an elaborate editorial as a tribute to former President Buhari, in which we prayed the Almighty to repose his soul and afford his family, associates and Nigerians the fortitude to bear the loss. But then, the time is apt to call those in position of authority to fix our health system for the betterment of all and stop exporting our privileged sick elite abroad in search of health care at the time when the less privileged are falling dead. 

Besides former presidents, their deputies, alongside their families, it is no longer news that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also routinely receives medical attention in hospitals in France. Before him, Buhari himself, while in power spent hundreds of days on medical leave in the United Kingdom.

This culture of medical tourism is not restricted to the presidency. Governors, senators, ministers, heads of government agencies and other top technocrats, along with their families, flock overseas for treatment, often at the slightest sign of illness.

They abandon the very health care system they are paid to fund and supervise, even as ordinary Nigerians die from ailments as common as malaria.

We recall with nostalgia, the construction of the presidential wing of the State House Clinic, which gulped N21 billion and was inaugurated in May 2023 at the twilight of the administration of the late former President Buhari. It was meant to serve the VIPs.  But as we speak, the very people it is meant for are not patronising it despite the much hyped publicity about its sophistication.

The consequences of this elite escapism are devastating.  In 2022, for instance, the then Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who served under President Buhari, said Nigerians spent about $1.6 billion annually on medical tourism, adding that it is a huge drain on the country’s foreign reserves. He said this in Lagos at the launch of a private hospital, which he described as a “world-class health care facility in Nigeria.”

According to him, Nigeria “is set to become a destination for medical tourism, in addition to reversing the brain drain in the health sector.” But where are we today?

Sadly, the staggering drain on foreign exchange continues, even as the country grapples with inflation, a weakened currency and dwindling reserves.

Meanwhile, our health sector lies in ruins. Primary health care centres and general hospitals across the country are in such disrepair that they could easily be mistaken for mortuaries. Tertiary health institutions that were once the pride of Africa are now haunted by the exodus of doctors, nurses and medical consultants, a trend widely known as the Japa syndrome.

According to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), over 4,800 Nigerian-trained doctors moved to the United Kingdom between 2015 and 2023 and over 17,000 have left the country in the last decade, with nurses also leaving in droves. The reasons are clear: poor remuneration, lack of equipment, insecurity and the absence of conducive work environment. 

Those who cannot afford to travel abroad are left with grim options. Public hospitals offer inadequate services and most private hospitals are too expensive for the average citizen. With the rising cost of drugs, almost all of which are imported, many Nigerians now rely on herbs and unprescribed over-the-counter medications, putting their lives at further risk.

Our best-trained doctors, educated in Nigeria’s public universities at public expense, now serve as a buffer for the collapsing health systems of the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and even fellow African countries. Nigeria, once the medical hub of the continent, is now exporting professionals while importing death.

We remember with nostalgia the glory days of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) and Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), where patients came from across Africa and beyond to receive world-class treatment. What happened to those centres of excellence? How did we descend to this shameful point, where even our rulers don’t trust the system they govern?

Let it be stated unequivocally: This is a national emergency. Leaders who cannot fix the system should have no business running it. If our leaders are comfortable making lofty campaign promises about fixing health care, then they should be held accountable through binding legislation. We, therefore, welcome the bill at the House of Representatives which seeks to ban public officials and civil servants, as well as their families from seeking medical treatment abroad. This is not a punitive measure but a catalyst for reform.

Relying on foreign hospitals poses not just moral and financial questions but national security risks. When key leaders of a sovereign country receive treatment in foreign lands, their health status, movement and confidentiality are at the mercy of foreign governments. This is dangerous, irresponsible and totally avoidable.

Nigeria prides itself as the giant of Africa, but how can we make such a claim when we depend on foreign countries, sometimes poorer or smaller than us for something as basic and essential as health care?

It is time for honesty, accountability and a sense of national duty. Nigerians deserve accessible, affordable and quality health care. A country where only the rich can buy survival is not just unjust, it is doomed. Enough of taking the citizens for a ride. Fix our hospitals. Equip our health centres. Pay and protect our health workers. Make public health care the first choice for the rich and poor alike.

The health of a country is too important to be outsourced.