By Lilian U. Okoro
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, mentioned that increasing medical insurance and stabilising healthcare financing had been central to lowering outbound medical tourism, which he mentioned costed Nigeria about three trillion Naira yearly.
Abayomi spoke in Lagos on Saturday on the Business of Health The Conference, with the theme “Reversing Medical Tourism: Building the Infrastructure that Brings the World to Nigeria for Care.”
“Three trillion naira leaves Nigeria every year in terms of outbound medical tourism,” he mentioned, noting that well being programs worldwide had been beneath pressure as economies grew to become tougher
He added that the burden was particularly extreme for a lot of Nigerians residing at or beneath the poverty line.
Abayomi warned that failure to maintain tempo with speedy medical innovation may worsen the outflow of sufferers and overseas alternate.
“We are going to exacerbate outbound medical tourism because people want these innovations, and it is happening so fast,” he mentioned.
The commissioner recognized the hole between the provision of superior healthcare services and sufferers’ means to pay as a serious impediment.
He cited figures exhibiting that 76 per cent of well being spending in Nigeria was out-of-pocket, whereas lower than 5 per cent was coated by insurance coverage.
According to him, excessive remedy prices have left superior personal hospitals with low patronage, at the same time as public services stay overcrowded.
To shut the financing hole, Abayomi mentioned Lagos had made medical insurance obligatory for residents and companies by way of an govt order domesticating the National Health Insurance Authority Act of 2022.
He added that the state deliberate to manage Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) premiums by defining charges and protection tiers, to forestall underpricing that leaves suppliers unable to satisfy the price of care.
“Once the demand and ability to pay for health are established, then the supply side will take over,” Abayomi mentioned.
He defined that pooled funds would create predictable demand, encourage personal funding, and enhance the monetary viability of healthcare suppliers.
“Supply follows demand. The government expects 20 million enrollees to inject about two trillion Naira into the sector,” he mentioned.
Abayomi mentioned steady financing may enhance services, make superior care extra accessible, strengthen investor confidence, and help higher working situations for well being staff.
“We will reverse medical tourism,” he assured.
To rebuild belief, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, the primary feminine Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, urged healthcare professionals to strengthen accountability, collaborate throughout disciplines, and rebuild public belief in Nigerian healthcare.
She mentioned Nigerians spent $465.65 million on medical tourism within the first 9 months of 2024, largely looking for most cancers, cardiac, kidney and orthopaedic care in India, Britain and the United States.
Ogunsola linked medical tourism to mistrust in native providers, shortages of specialists and tools, strikes, and poor details about superior care obtainable in Nigeria.
She cited a 2016 PwC survey by which solely 10 per cent of respondents trusted native healthcare to ship desired outcomes, citing issues about scientific competence, follow-up care and regulatory safety.
Ogunsola additionally warned that emigration, troublesome working situations and restricted profession alternatives had been shrinking Nigeria’s well being workforce.
She famous that the National Association of Resident Doctors reported that no fewer than 15,000 medical doctors had left Nigeria since 2014.
While acknowledging the pressures driving migration, she cautioned that relocating overseas didn’t assure fulfilment, as some Nigerian professionals confronted underemployment, discrimination or work beneath their {qualifications}.
She urged well being staff contemplating migration to weigh the dangers, together with separation from household and adjustment to completely different cultural environments.
To restore confidence, Ogunsola known as for funding in services, trendy tools and certified personnel, alongside clear requirements and higher public details about specialist providers.
She mentioned healthcare staff should talk clearly, deal with sufferers respectfully, and settle for duty for the standard of care.
Ogunsola urged professionals to maneuver past individualism and accomplice with authorities, personal companies and different sectors on sensible options, together with insurance coverage growth and multidisciplinary care.
Nigeria’s challenges, she mentioned, may change into alternatives to enhance native providers, retain well being staff and hold extra healthcare spending inside the nation.
In her opening tackle, Dr Funmi Adeniyi, Convener of the Business of Health Conference, urged healthcare practitioners and traders to construct robust operational buildings, standardise scientific care, and deploy home capital to reverse medical tourism.
She mentioned sustaining excessive institutional requirements was the best technique for curbing mind drain and attracting each native and worldwide sufferers.
“For too long, the discussion around Nigerian healthcare has been dominated by deficiencies: insufficient infrastructure, limited specialist services, financing gaps, talent migration, and the number of Nigerians who seek care abroad.
“That is why we are asking a more productive national question: What can we build here?”.
Sharing her expertise, Adeniyi mentioned introducing commonplace working procedures, key efficiency indicators and structured workers advantages remodeled her apply right into a sustainable facility.
“I had barely spent three months on maternity leave when I realised the need to create a better system. I decided to create structures, SOPs and KPIs, and today, everyone has access to paid leave and benefits,” she mentioned.
Adeniyi mentioned she had noticed a constructive shift in dentistry, with overseas expatriates and diaspora shoppers more and more receiving remedy domestically beneath worldwide insurance coverage protection.
“Over the past two years, I have observed a change in dentistry.
“Today, patients covered by international health maintenance organisations are increasingly willing to receive treatment here, and these organisations are paying us,” she mentioned.
She in contrast the potential progress of Nigeria’s healthcare sector to the growth of telecommunications over the previous twenty years, arguing that sustained institution-building may make Nigeria a world healthcare hub inside 20 years.
Citing experiences from the International Finance Corporation, Adeniyi mentioned Nigeria wanted as much as 650,000 hospital beds, 500,000 nurses, 300,000 group well being staff and 90,000 physicians to satisfy nationwide wants.
She famous that Nigerians spend about $11 billion out-of-pocket on healthcare yearly, stressing the necessity to pool home sources and appeal to enterprise capital for infrastructure.
Adeniyi cited Dr Stella Adadevoh’s response to the Ebola outbreak and Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti’s public well being reforms as proof of Nigeria’s capability for excellence.
“We have done it before, and we can do it again. We must commit ourselves to building here, building now, and building big,” she mentioned.
NAN experiences that Dr Dami Adeniyi moderated a panel that includes Mr Chidi Okoro and Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, centred on “Marketing healthcare @ scale”.
There was Goodwill Message by Dr Njide Ndili, President, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria.
Dr Omiete Charles-Davies, was additionally a Guest Speaker and urged medical practitioners to assume enterprise of their practices.
(NAN)
Edited by Vivian Ihechu
