Nigeria should work towards striking a balance between the number of people travelling in and out of the country for medical treatment, experts have advised.
They gave the advice yesterday during the ‘All Things Medical’ Conference and Exhibition organized by Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust and other titles in collaboration with Prompt Home Health, and other partners in Abuja.
Speaking separately at the conference themed “Celebrating Nigeria’s Medical Care: Why bother to go outside?” the Minister of health, Prof. Isaac Adewole and the founder, Nisa Premier Hospital, Dr Ibrahim Wada, said Nigeria could also be a tourist hub for people to travel to from all parts of the world for treatment.
Dr Ibrahim Wada said over 50 percent of the world are traveling for medical care and 150,000 Americans travel outside the USA for medical care yearly, adding that it would be deceptive for anyone to think that in 20 years’ time Nigerians would not be traveling abroad for medical care as the world has become a small village.
He said the problem with Nigeria was that more people were leaving the country for medical attention than those coming into the country for medical services.
He said: “Medical travel is a historical part of human existence and globalization is facilitating the phenomenon. In Nigerian history, people travelled from one place to the other in search of better traditional care in the olden days.
Credit: Daily trust