The federal government has reiterated its resolve to end medical tourism which Nigeria loses an estimated one billion dollars to annually. The minister of state for health, Osagie Ehanire, stated this on Thursday, January 21, during a familiarization visit the federal medical centre, Abeokuta.

Ehanire said the federal government would build 10,000 functional primary healthcare centres within Nigeria to reduce the pressure on the existing tertiary health institutions.

He said: “We are losing estimated one billion dollars on Nigerians going abroad to get treatment. We have tertiary hospitals that should be good enough to handle what most Nigerians go abroad for.”

“What we should do is to ensure training and retraining of staff, provide equipment and ensure proper modern service delivery; we must have patient-centred healthcare service,” he added.

Ehanire pointed out that the federal government was trying hard to generate resources from all areas to fund the health sector amidst the competing needs and priorities of the nation.

In a reaction, Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dapo Sotiloye, said the hospital needed funds for some of its vital capital projects, including completion of water schemes, reticulation of electricity, among others.

He said that within its short period of existence, the hospital has impacted positively on the growth of medicine in the country and has earned some local and international recognition.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that his government will continue to gives strong supervision function and funding for polio programmes in Nigeria.

Source: Naij