Nigeria loses an estimated $1.1 billion yearly to medical tourism, the African Export-Import {Bank} has mentioned, warning that the development is just not solely draining international alternate but additionally stalling the expansion of the nation’s healthcare sector.
Talking on the thirty second Afreximbank Annual Conferences in Abuja on Thursday, June 26, the {Bank}’s Export Improvement Managing Director, Mrs Oluranti Doherty, described the scenario as a significant setback for native funding.
“We had our member international locations dropping a number of international alternate to medical tourism,” she mentioned. “We simply talked about Nigeria, the place our medical tourism yearly is about $1.1bn.
“Your complete continent is about $7bn simply because we will’t assist ourselves after we provide you with continual illnesses. That’s cash that’s going to different economies, constructing their establishments.”
Doherty careworn that the constant outflow of funds for therapy overseas represents missed alternatives to develop healthcare infrastructure and strengthen the broader financial system.
She additionally raised considerations concerning the steady lack of expert well being professionals to international international locations.
“One other factor we famous was an effective way we have been dropping a number of our good skills,” she mentioned. “The most effective of skills within the well being sector have been going out of the continent, working in locations similar to India, Asia, the Center East, America, and that usually was a problem.”
READ ALSO: FG budgetary allocation for healthcare encourages medical tourism —NAN
She famous that Afreximbank had anticipated these challenges and responded by launching its Well being and Medical Tourism Programme in 2012.
One of many {bank}’s main tasks underneath the initiative is the Africa Medical Heart of Excellence (AMCE), presently being developed in Abuja.
“Afreximbank was progressive. I name us the progressive financier, the progressive traders. We recognised this half since 2012, and we set about doing one thing about it,” she mentioned.
The AMCE, she defined, is a 170-bed facility fitted with cutting-edge medical expertise, together with a three-Tesla MRI, an 18 MeV cyclotron, and a 20-bed intensive care unit. The {bank} has invested over $450 million into the mission.
“Afreximbank needed to go the place nobody has gone earlier than; Afreximbank’s leaders adhered to the dreamers.
“The AMCE goals to supply healthcare providers similar to world requirements, not simply African requirements. I’m speaking about world requirements. I’m speaking about Africans arising with options to challenges,” she mentioned.
Doherty urged Nigerian authorities and others throughout Africa to revive public confidence of their home well being techniques and undertake insurance policies that assure inexpensive, high quality care at residence.
