Federal Government’s project of ending medical tourism abroad is to start with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) and seven other hospitals in the country.

Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, Chairman of the Board of Management of the UITH, dropped this hint when he addressed newsmen after his board held its inaugural meeting at the hospital in Ilorin.

Emerhor said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to end the practice, by many influential Nigerians, of jettisoning medical facilities in the country for treatment in abroad.

He disclosed that parts of efforts being made by the government to achieve this is to significantly fund the nation’s medical facilities and build capacities of the medical personnel.

Emerhor who said that the arrangement has been captured in this year budget with plan to also be included in the next budget disclosed that the government has selected eight hospitals among which is UITH as beneficiaries.

He disclosed that when Prof. Isaac Adewole, the Minister of Health, inaugurated the board, he instructed the board of the vision of the president about making the UITH a part of hospitals with which to achieve the objective of ending medical tourism abroad.

“Our job is simply to build on what has been achieved so far and to take the University Teaching Hospital further down the road of improvement, development and ensuring that we become a world-class university teaching hospital where the services we provide will can compete with other similar teaching hospital around the world.

“To become a tourist destination, our hospital must be such that Nigeria can have confidence to come here to treat themselves, instead of going outside Nigeria. It also means that people from other countries will be coming here to receive treatment instead of all of us tripping to India, America, to the UK to treat. This is the objective; this is the vision of Mr. President, pass to us through the Minister of health.”

The UITH chairman who noted that reliance couldn’t be placed on fund from the government alone to achieve the planned objective, disclosed that the hospitals would further source for fund from international organisation private sectors with which it would partner.

http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/03/how-fg-plans-to-end-medical-tourism.html

When Buhari is on the way.

And yet your president planned to embark on one comes April. Animal talk. Talk is always cheap to the useless apc.

The chief medical tourist buhari is the one who should be banned from going abroad. Such a monumental disgrace and abberation this old haggard man is to this nation.

Grand patron of medical tourism to end medical tourism? I no wan laugh a beg

Idiotic pigs of Biafra will not like this, they don't know buhari is best thing that ever happened to Nigeria.
If the past Presidents had done what buhari is doing in health sector and education sector as human capital development in the past,buhari will not be going to medical tourism in abroad.
Idiotic pigs of Biafra will not like this my submission

Is this meant to neutralise the open-ended medical excursion already planed by the 'presidency' for next month?

The UITH chairman who noted that reliance couldn’t be placed on fund from the government alone to achieve the planned objective, disclosed that the hospitals would further source for fund from international organisation private sectors with which it would partner.

From this last paragraph, it is clear that the government's plan is dead on arrival. Most if not all projects that fail in Nigeria are as a result of poor funding, corruption or a combination of poor funding and corruption.

The answer to funding is simple. Tax the rich. Nigeria has the lowest tax to GDP ratio on earth and a recent poll showed Nigeria was ranked the second worst country in terms of income inequality. Taxes such as the new 5 percent fuel tax will only lead to inflation and further impoverish the masses. The amount of money gotten from taxes on the rich to build and maintain our health facilities may even be less than what the rich currently spend on medical tourism.

For example, if a person has 3 houses each worth 50 million. The person would pay a tax of .1 percent on his first house of choice. This is equal to 50 thousand annually. On the second house, the person will pay 2 percent tax annually which equates to 1 million naira. Finally, on the third house the person will pay a tax rate of 10 percent which is equal to 5 million naira.

Progressive taxes such as this can be implemented on other goods such as vehicles. This will raise funding for the improvement in medical facilities.