Medical tourism killing nation’s health sector

…infrastructural, human capacity development of medical personnel key in the sector

In recent times, a new trend in the healthcare sector known as “medical tourism”- a term used to describe the practice of people travelling to another country in order to receive medical attention, be it heart surgery, hip replacement, or dental work- has gained popularity among highly industrialized countries like the United States, Germany, France, as well as developing nations like Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Current survey indicates significant growth in the medical tourism industry currently at $20 billion market, is expected to reach $100 billion by 2012. While exact statistics for medical tourism may seem difficult to confirm, these estimations indicate a strong potential for medical tourism not only at the moment but in the future.

With the nation’s dearth in infrastructures like medical equipment, stable power supply (thereby making health institutions to rely on generating sets), adequate medical personnel, delivering the needed healthcare to people that besiege such hospitals  otherwise known as “centre of excellence” has been a daunting challenge. This has led to a situation whereby Nigerians with life-threatening ailments are left with an option of travelling abroad to seek medical attention.

While health experts see this emerging trend as not only demoralizing to medical practitioners but gradually killing the country’s health sector, stakeholders have tasked the government towards improvement of healthcare services across the various tiers while involving the private sector with a view of reducing the millions of dollars lost by the country to medical tourism annually.

Making his view known, Felix Ogedegbe, consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Cedarcrest Hospitals, Abuja disclosed that a lot of risks are involved when Nigerians decide to shop for medical treatment abroad, as in most cases such venture tend to compound the patient’s illness rather than curing it.

While stating that apart from the huge expenses involved which if pumped into the nation’s health sector would yield positive result, Ogedegbe noted that many patients and their relatives have no clue about the doctors treating them and whether they are truly qualified to carry out the prescribed treatment.

In his words “if this trend is not stopped and attention not focused on resuscitating the collapsing health sector, years from now the country would not have a health sector to boast of. Don’t forget that patients have returned from these countries with much more than bargained for. Some have had the wrong operation, unnecessary procedures, treatments and others have significant, lingering and lifelong complications. Although most hospitals have medical malpractice insurance to cover any unforeseen events, seeking damages is often impossible in cases of negligence, misdiagnosis or incompetence.”

Ogedegbe went further to highlight dangers associated with medical tourism to include lack of follow up even when the treatment or operation has been concluded, demoralising local doctors who at the end would not feel appreciated, brain-drain of medical experts and more importantly, the loss of above $260 million to India for medical tourism.

For his part, Ebun Bamgboye, consultant nephrologist, St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, stated that in as much as India has now become a very popular destination for medical tourism, what the government should do is to encourage the development of infrastructure to support an active transplant programme in different clinics in the country because we have the skills and the knowledge.

Bamgboye added: “We have been talking about those going to India which is relatively cheaper. Some people go to the UK. In the UK, kidney transplantation is about 20,000 pounds (about USD $S33, 000) per transplant. For those that go to the US, it is US$200,000. In South Africa, it is probably about USD $40,000.”

Corroborating Bamgboye’s view, Babatunde Osotimehin, former minister of Health and executive director, United Nation’s Population’s Fund (UNFPA), stated recently that due to a lack of confidence in the nation’s healthcare delivery system, Nigeria is losing well over $200 million from Nigerians who travel overseas for medical attention.

According to executive director, UNFPA, “Every year, Nigeria loses $200m in medical tourism. The confidence in our system is gone. People don’t think they can get service with us. They go for all manners of treatment that could be confidently treated and handled in Nigeria. We need to build our system like in the UK for people to have confidence. In Nigeria, it is only the better off people who travel overseas for medical attention. The country has to make concerted efforts to upgrade health care facilities to the standard that would attract patronage from patients outside Nigeria, or stop Nigerians travelling overseas.”

In the health sector for instance, while India make millions of dollars annually through medical tourism, it is sad to say that Nigeria, with some of the brightest and best in the medical profession is losing her professionals to countries that have infrastructure in place for them to work with.

With the likes of former president Ibrahim Babangida having to be flown to Paris to have a surgery on radiculopathy (a condition due to a compressed nerve in the spine that can cause pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness along the course of the nerve), late President Musa Yar’Adua, Atiku Abubakar and other affluent Nigerians spending millions of Naira seeking medicare outside the shores of the country, what does this go to show of our nation’s healthcare system in delivering the needed medicare to its citizens.

No doubt, this trend of oversea treatment for medicare which was observed by members of the House of Representatives recently represents a drain on the nation’s scarce resources and a disincentive to the improvement of healthcare services.

The House, however, called on the Federal Government to improve the quality of services available in health institutions and discourage the habit of encouraging capital flight from Nigeria through medical tourism by the elite. This may be the first case of a country specifically decrying outbound medical tourism as an economic threat to its own health industry and scarce foreign exchange.

Though Nigeria has a lot in common with India: comparable climate, pool of expert physicians, and an impoverished citizenry, limited infrastructures etc, India with at least four times the population size of Nigeria, and lacks the much-coveted black gold (Crude oil) has been able to harness and develop its technology base in the health sector, therefore becoming the destination for many individuals seeking healthcare.

Nigeria can replicate this and become the hub for medical tourism in the African continent with adequate health sector financing and the willingness of Nigerian specialist doctors to return home and contribute their quota vis-a-vis their expertise.