NPMCN to FG: Stop sponsoring Nigerians for medical treatment abroad unless…

By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan.
The National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) on Wednesday asked Federal government to stop sponsoring Nigerians to go get medical treatment abroad, unless that treatment is what Nigerian Doctors cannot treat.
Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Professor Ayodele Arowojolu made the call in Ibadan while speaking with newsmen on the 2016 annual scientific conference and All Fellows’ Congress holding in Ibadan.
Professor Arowojolu said  doing so will go a long way in serving as the first and major step towards stopping medical tourism abroad in the country at the expense of government money.
“Nobody should henceforth use government money to go and get medical treatment abroad. That is the first step to stop medical tourism.  Government should not sponsor anybody to go and get treatment abroad unless, of course, that treatment is what we cannot offer,” he said.
Professor Arowojolu while urging Federal government to once and for all ban any medical tourism, noted that as at present,
“there is no form of treatment that they have abroad that we don’t have in Nigeria.  The only difference is that they are not well harnessed here and the facilities are not well organized.”
According to him, many of the influential Nigerians often embark on medical tourism on the excuse of “government’s inability to provide the enabling environment for healthcare practitioners to practice in the country”.
He then tasked government to harmonize the nation’s health sector by improving on facilities for research and training, canvassed for improved, strong medical centres, in each of the six geo-political zones of the country including Abuja to take care of all the emergencies and the challenges that we have in the country, from where the nation could further expand and upgrade to other areas.
On the theme of the 2016 congress “Health Finance for Sustainable Development” to be chaired by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, he stressed that the theme became relevant considering the global economic recession, especially in Nigeria and most African countries.
“Government and institutions need to adopt alternative means of financing health care in order to ensure improvements in the quality of life of the populace”.