- Says Nigeria loses over N400 billion annually
By Lillian Okenwa
Many were left in shock when President
Mohammadu Buhari said last week that his government’s inability to address
various health challenges has resulted in increasing medical tourism in which
Nigeria loses over N400 billion on annual bases.
He made this disclosure last
Thursday during the inauguration of Senior Executive Course 41, 2019 of the
National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, Plateau State with
the theme “Funding Universal Health Care Delivery in Nigeria.”
The President posited that his government has shown strong commitment in
the revitalization of the health sector adding that in spite of this, the
sector was still characterized by low response to public health emergencies,
inability to combat an outbreak of deadly diseases and mass migration of medical
personnel out of the country.
“Government has shown strong commitment in the
revitalization of the health sector. These efforts notwithstanding, our health
sector is still characterized by low response to the public health emergencies,
inability to combat the outbreak of deadly diseases and mass migration of
medical personnel out of the country. This has resulted in increasing medical
tourism by Nigerians in which Nigeria loses N400 billion on an annual basis,”
he said.
President Buhari who was represented by Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State said his government had in January this year flagged off Primary Healthcare Revitalisation Programme with the aim of having 10,000 functional primary healthcare facilities with at least one functional healthcare facility in every political ward across the country.
Coming from a president who spent all his medical vacations in Europe in the last four years, several minds were agitated as to what exactly he was talking about.
Judge Egbas of Pulse Nigeria, chronicles his odyssey.J
“Here’s a timeline of Buhari’s health travels.
February 5, 2016
Buhari embarks on a six-day medical vacation to London.
June 6, 2016
Buhari takes to the skies for a 10-day medical vacation.
Presidency says Buhari has to travel to deal with a ‘persistent ear
infection.’
January 19, 2017
Buhari is off to London again on a medical vacation.
February 5, 2017
Buhari writes the national assembly, asks lawmakers to extend his London
medical leave.
March 10, 2017
Buhari returns to Nigeria but doesn’t resume work immediately.
Presidency says ‘he’s working from home.’
May 7, 2017
Buhari embarks on trip to London for another medical vacation. He
returns after 104 days.
August 19, 2017
Buhari returns to Nigeria and it takes him a while to resume work
because rats have reportedly damaged furniture in his office.
Presidency announces he’ll be working from home.
May 8, 2018
Buhari is off to London for ‘medical review’—another name for a medical
vacation.
It is his 5th medical trip since he was inaugurated president on May 29,
2015.”
In April 2016, Buhari reportedly told the nation that he does not favour
medical tourism and that he would not encourage the political class to do so.
“While this administration will not deny anyone of his or her
fundamental human rights, we will certainly not encourage expending Nigerian
hard-earned resources on any government official seeking medical care abroad,
when such can be handled in Nigeria”, Buhari said, according to a statement
from the Health Ministry at the time.
More worrisome is that Prof. Isaac Adewole,
Nigeria’s health minister after close to four years in office can hardly lay
claim to any significant impact on the country’s health sector. In the last few
years, various medical unions, including the Nigerian Medical Association,
which he belongs to, raised questions about his effectiveness in office.
Within the last four years, all federal
government health institutions in Nigeria including federal medical centres,
specialists’ hospitals, orthopedic hospitals, psychiatric hospitals among
others at various times had to shut down due to industrial action while the president
visited United Kingdom for his health care.
On the website of the Federal Ministry of
Health, there is a list of 44 tertiary health facilities comprising 20 teaching
hospitals and 24 federal medical centres, a number of which should have been
able to handle the President’s condition but these medical establishments have
remained in critical states of despair.
It was even widely reported that budgetary
allocations to all these facilities were dwarfed by the provisions made for the
Aso Rock Clinic (State House clinic).
In October 2017, the president’s
wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari caused a stir when she said the Aso Rock
Clinic could not boast of a
syringe despite huge allocations made to it. She related that when she was
sick, she was advised to travel abroad because of the poor state of the clinic,
adding that she had to go to a private hospital owned by foreigners when told
that the x-ray machine in the State House Clinic was not functioning.
The question is, what has
happened to the implementation of the National Health Bill, 2014 for example?
How much has been achieved with the penetration of the National Health
Insurance Scheme and the expansion of the programme to include ordinary
Nigerians? What are the plans of this government to improve Nigerians’ access
to health information as an important ingredient for preventive care?
Another nagging issue is the welfare and
conditions of service for medical personnel in the country.
It was wildly reported that last
month, hundreds of Nigerian doctors gathered at a hotel in Abuja, and Lagos, for
an exam conducted by the Saudi Arabian health ministry.
Reports also disclosed
that weeks before the attempt by Saudi Arabia to entice Nigeria’s medical best,
dozens had sat for the regular Professional Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB)
exams at the British Council. Scaling through this test will enable them to
work in the UK.
Over the last few years, about 2,000 doctors have left Nigeria blaming the mass exodus on poor working conditions. While the annual healthcare provision for an individual in the US is $10,000, in Nigeria it is a paltry $6. Merely four percent of Nigeria’s budget is designated for health.
Sadly, four
years into the Buhari administration, poor primary, secondary and tertiary
healthcare services/facilities have bedeviled the country.
These
challenges were meant to have been effectually tackled if the government had
delivered on its promise to bring healthcare delivery closer to the people. This
was meant to be achieved with the rejuvenation of 10,000 primary health care
centres across the country. The minister of health, a professor of medicine,
had emphasised that resuscitating primary healthcare was one of the top
priorities of the government. This is still being awaited.
In 2017 while inaugurating the Model
Primary Health Care Centre for Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria at
Kuchigoro Primary Health Centre, Abuja the president assured that Federal
Government will continue to ensure more Nigerians have access to quality basic
health care services. He expressed hope that the provision of quality health
care service would reverse the poor health indices in the country, noting that
his administration would fulfill all its promises made to the people.
Yet, many primary healthcare centres across the country are still dire straits. Today, a state of public health concern has been declared as nearly 2,300 children under five die daily and about 145 women also die daily in Nigeria from pregnancy and childbirth related matters. Most pregnant women still use the services of traditional birth attendants for delivery.
Strangely, the Minister of Budget
and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udoma said President Buhari’s administration
places very high value on improving health care delivery and social welfare of
Nigerians. Speaking at the opening of the ‘Value for Money in Health Sector
Workshop’, Udoma said Buhari’s administration was prioritising health related
expenditures in all the national budgets.
“As we are able to demonstrate and show
improved healthcare outcomes for the money we are currently spending,
government at all levels will be encouraged to further increase funding to the
health sector,” the minister said.
