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While Nigeria’s federal government claims that the country is steadily being positioned for medical tourism as it presently attracts patients from countries the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), the West African sub-region and more, patients at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan which has reportedly been in darkness since October 26, 2024, now bring their generators and solar inverters to receive medical care.
Reports circulating on social media claim that the federal government-owned UCH has been struggling with power supply issues for months, leaving critical medical services disrupted. Patients and their families have resorted to personal power sources to ensure life-saving treatments continue.
In response to the crisis, the Oyo State Government acknowledged the situation in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating:
“Thank you for contacting us. The Oyo State Government is aware of the power supply challenges at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. Although the facility is managed by the federal government, the OYSG plans to connect UCH to the State’s Independent Power Plant (IPP) as a medium-term solution.”
The prolonged power outage has sent the social media abuzz, with many questioning the state of healthcare infrastructure in the country. While the Oyo State Government’s intervention offers hope, patients and medical professionals at UCH continue to struggle with the impact of the ongoing blackout.
However, speaking to newsmen at the State House, Abuja about key decisions aimed at bolstering Nigeria’s healthcare system, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate announced that: “People are now beginning to come from the sub-region, and even from faraway places like the UK and the US, to receive quality healthcare in Nigeria.
“So despite what we may want to believe about Nigeria’s healthcare system, there are good things happening – the transformation that the President promised is beginning to happen.
“We need to sustain it, and we’re investing, and we continue to invest in that direction.”
On Thursday, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said patients from the United States (US) and other countries are thronging Nigeria hospitals to seek affordable and high-quality kidney transplants.
Shettima said this during a courtesy visit by the Nigerian Association of Nephrology at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, ahead of the association’s 37th Scientific Conference.
According to the Vice-President, Nigeria is witnessing a surge in reverse medical tourism in a striking shift in global medical trends.
Recently a video showing a horrific dilapidated public health centre where women give birth made the rounds on social media.
Watch the video below.
Sometime last year, the Senate Committee on Health, Secondary and Tertiary Health Institutions, has decried Nigeria’s poor health outcomes, particularly high child mortality rates, infant mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and even life expectancy.
In December 2024, Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele disclosed that the weak primary healthcare system being run in the country contributes substantially to the rising mortality rate among Nigerian citizens.
Bamidele said most citizens often died of treatable diseases on account of poverty and poor access to robust medicare, saying this propelled him to offer free medical intervention for constituents in Ekiti Central Senatorial District to rescue them from afflictions.
