SATURDAY, 23rd October, 2021: The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had yesterday made a strong case for an increase in investments in the health sector to curb N6 billion spent on medical tourism yearly. 
The trio made this call in Lagos during the unveiling of Duchess International Hospital, a multi-million-naira, state-of-the-art health facility funded by Access Bank Plc.
They went further to urge banks to make loans accessible to healthcare investors in order to provide standard health facilities, technologies and equipment for quality services to curb medical tourism in Nigeria.
According to Osinbajo, Nigeria had world-class talents, ideas and other resources required to develop and manage global health facilities if sufficient funding was made available. He went further to note that the delivery of the highest standards of healthcare would reverse medical tourism.
The VP said investment in healthcare facilities such as Duchess would reverse brain drain in the sector and make the country a destination for medical tourists. He commended Access Bank Plc for funding the project, describing its involvement as courageous.
Emefiele, on his part, said over 80 countries took stringent steps like restricting their medical and pharmaceutical supplies from being exported to other countries as necessary measures to cope with the pandemic.
He said it was regrettable that while the global pandemic was ravaging, Nigeria could not produce medical and pharmaceutical supplies such as drugs, hand sanitisers, hand gloves, nose masks and disinfectants but had to depend on other countries, including China and India.
The apex bank’s boss queried the sustainability of relying on importation for medical supplies while expressing fear that a bigger pandemic could put the country on the brink if it fails to make necessary investments. He said poor investment has posed enormous threat to the country’s health sector, which parades some of the best brains in global medical circle.  
In his remarks, Sanwo-Olu stated that the government needed to restore the trust of the citizens in the domestic healthcare system by creating an enabling environment for health facilities to thrive. He urged the federal and state governments to make healthcare a priority and increase their budgets for the sector.
The Chief Executive Officer, Duchess International Hospital, Dr. Adetokunbo Shitta-Bey while speaking on the issue, said about 60, 000 Nigerians spend N6 billion yearly to seek various medical treatments abroad ranging from chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, minor conditions as well as plastic and reconstructive surgeries.
He said lack of trust, good governance, quality facilities, equipment and expertise in the healthcare industry and inability to meet with international standards were part of the causes of medical tourism in the country.
He called on the private healthcare providers to take the bull by the horn to bridge the gaps in the heath industry and help the country recoup the money lost to medical tourism.