By Lilian U. Okoro
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, stated that increasing medical insurance and stabilising healthcare financing have been central to decreasing outbound medical tourism, which he stated 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 stated, noting that well being programs worldwide have been underneath pressure as economies turned tougher
He added that the burden was particularly extreme for a lot of Nigerians dwelling at or under 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 stated.
The commissioner recognized the hole between the supply of superior healthcare services and sufferers’ potential to pay as a significant 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 therapy prices have left superior personal hospitals with low patronage, whilst public services stay overcrowded.
To shut the financing hole, Abayomi stated Lagos had made medical insurance necessary for residents and companies by an govt order domesticating the National Health Insurance Authority Act of 2022.
He added that the state deliberate to control Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO) premiums by defining charges and protection tiers, to forestall underpricing that leaves suppliers unable to fulfill the price of care.
“Once the demand and ability to pay for health are established, then the supply side will take over,” Abayomi stated.
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 stated.
Abayomi stated steady financing may enhance services, make superior care extra accessible, strengthen investor confidence, and assist 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 stated Nigerians spent $465.65 million on medical tourism within the first 9 months of 2024, largely in search of 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 accessible in Nigeria.
She cited a 2016 PwC survey through 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 have been shrinking Nigeria’s well being workforce.
She famous that the National Association of Resident Doctors reported that no fewer than 15,000 docs 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 under 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 referred to as for funding in services, fashionable tools and certified personnel, alongside clear requirements and higher public details about specialist providers.
She stated 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 associate with authorities, personal companies and different sectors on sensible options, together with insurance coverage growth and multidisciplinary care.
Nigeria’s challenges, she stated, may turn out to be alternatives to enhance native providers, retain well being staff and hold extra healthcare spending throughout the nation.
In her opening deal with, Dr Funmi Adeniyi, Convener of the Business of Health Conference, urged healthcare practitioners and buyers to construct sturdy operational constructions, standardise scientific care, and deploy home capital to reverse medical tourism.
She stated sustaining excessive institutional requirements was the simplest 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 stated introducing normal working procedures, key efficiency indicators and structured workers advantages remodeled her follow 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 stated.
Adeniyi stated she had noticed a optimistic shift in dentistry, with overseas expatriates and diaspora shoppers more and more receiving therapy regionally underneath 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 stated.
She in contrast the potential progress of Nigeria’s healthcare sector to the growth of telecommunications over the previous 20 years, arguing that sustained institution-building may make Nigeria a world healthcare hub inside 20 years.
Citing reviews from the International Finance Corporation, Adeniyi stated Nigeria wanted as much as 650,000 hospital beds, 500,000 nurses, 300,000 group well being staff and 90,000 physicians to fulfill nationwide wants.
She famous that Nigerians spend about $11 billion out-of-pocket on healthcare yearly, stressing the necessity to pool home sources and entice 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 stated.
NAN reviews 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
