Why Nigerians embark on medical tourism — Minister

Senator Olororunnimbe Mamora, Minister of State for Health, has said poor hospital environments and bad attitude of hospital workers were largely responsible for medical tourism in the country.
Mamora said this on Monday in Abuja when a team from CPL Medical Group Limited paid him a courtesy visit.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the team was led by the Chairman, Albert Awofisayo.
Mamora said: “President Muhammadu Buhari has resolved to curb medical tourism by supporting initiatives from individuals and groups.
“We are focused on improving working conditions in the hospitals because medical tourism is not necessarily an outcome of lack of medical equipment.
“It encompasses factors like lack of conducive hospital environment and poor attitude of health workers towards health care delivery.”
Mamora assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was working toward entrenching the right standards in terms of attitudinal change and procurement of equipment.
He said the responsibility of the Ministry of Health was to formulate government policies on health, while implementation involved the relevant stakeholders so that the sector could move to the next level.
He expressed delight at the progress reported by the team in the implementation of the various stages of engagement with the Presidency, adding that government was partnering with the Infrastructure Regulatory Commission to ensure best practises in healthcare delivery.
Earlier, Awofisayo had given an update on the status of the third phase of the Federal Government and CPL Medical Group Limited partnership on the Special Presidential Intervention project to advance the tertiary health sector in the country.
The chairman solicited government’s support towards the successful implementation of the rehabilitation of the 22 Federal University Teaching Hospitals.
He said the group also planned to construct a green-field 500-bed “Federal Centre of Medical Excellence” in Abuja, with the collaboration of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
“We are partnering with major hospitals across five continents for the health outfit which will be called “Mayo clinics,” he said.
Awofisayo appealed that the project be considered strategic during the second tenure of Buhari’s administration.
He pledged that the standard of services to be provided by the proposed 500-bed Centre would be of “best global standard” so as to curb medical tourism.
NAN reports that CPL Medical Group Limited is a local engineering company engaged in the rehabilitation of teaching hospitals in the country.