The plan by the Federal Government to end the drain on the economy that transfer of funds abroad for medical treatment for workers has become is welcome. Speaking at the University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, said the federal purse could no longer sustain the huge transfer. He expressed surprise that public servants found it convenient to abuse provisions for their welfare by obtaining approval to seek treatment in Asia, the Americas and Europe, for ailments that could be handled locally.
It is good that the minister, who is a Professor of Medicine, is bothered by the trend, but it should be realised that effecting changes in the public service goes beyond ministerial pronouncement. The necessary process for changing the rules has to be followed. Where laws are involved, the legislature has to be enlisted in amending the law. Otherwise, if at the level of policy and rules, the Federal Executive Council would be required to take a decision on the matter and forward same to the appropriate agencies of government.
It is a shame that more than half a century after independence, Nigerians find it easy to travel abroad for medical attention. Many of the top bureaucrats have programmed themselves to undertake medical check-up outside the country twice yearly. These are some of the practices that have put the strain on the Naira and caused the consequent depreciation.
When the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was on the campaign tour of the country in 2007, he had to be flown abroad for what was described as cold. Earlier, the late Mrs Stella Obasanjo died on the surgeon’s table in Spain as she went for tummy tuck. The indulgences of the past must end. While individuals who have the means could not be stopped from taking care of their health as they may wish, the penchant to pass such bills to the government at all levels must end now.
We appeal to doctors to be more patriotic in handling their patients. As the minister pointed out, there have been cases of collusion between doctors and public servants to defraud the country. As such, cases that facilities and personnel in the country could handle are referred abroad for a fee. We call on the authorities to investigate notorious cases and bring the culprits to book. Such practices are responsible for the current parlous state of the economy.
States and the Federal Government, however, also have the duty to ensure the upgrade of facilities in tertiary and secondary hospitals in the country. During the Obasanjo administration, billions of Naira had to be expended on upgrading six teaching hospitals designated as “centres of excellence”. It was later discovered that the contractors did a poor job and those hospitals remain in the same state they were before the phantom upgrade. The last federal administration equally realised the need to have first class medical facilities that could serve the needs of Nigerians and citizens of neighbouring West African countries. It was touted as a move that would be driven by the private sector. Nothing has come out of it.
We hope that the lamentation of Professor Adewole would not end at that. His offer to partner with the Akwa Ibom State government in elevating the status of the Ibom Specialist Hospital, Uyo, is not enough. He needs to undertake a thorough review of the state of federal public hospitals, as well as get the states to pay more attention to their teaching, specialist and general hospitals. The local authorities, too, should equip primary health centres.
All tiers of government ought to realise that it is cheaper to prevent than treat diseases. Traditional and modern channels of communication should therefore be engaged in mobilising Nigerians to prevent medical complications. We all could do with education on how medical tourism impinges on the health of Nigerians.
The Nation Editorial