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Coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Ondo State, Dr Habibu Yahaya, has disclosed that Nigeria loses about $1.2 billion to medical tourism yearly due to what he described as the fragility of the country’s health system.
Yahaya disclosed this as the keynote speaker during the fourth Annual Public Health Grand Round held on Wednesday at Oladipo Akinkugbe Hall, University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo State.
The theme of the event was ‘Health Systems Strengthening: Building Resilience for the Future’, and it was organised by the School of Public Health of the institution.
The WHO coordinator in the state emphasised that the development was not unconnected with the shocks often experienced by the country’s health system.
According to him, the country’s health system is faced with acute shocks such as epidemics and pandemics, as well as chronic stressors identified as poor funding and persistent strikes. He said: “Health system fragility results in about $1.2 billion lost from the Nigerian economy to medical tourism yearly.”
Medical experts and stakeholders at the event identified one of the factors responsible for weak health systems as a human resource gap. During a panel session, tagged ‘Human Resource Gaps in Healthcare,’ moderated by the Vice Dean of the School of Public Health, Dr Ibukun Adesiyan, the Chairman of the Committee of Deans, Prof Ezekiel Adebayo, said, “UNIMED was established with the vision of solving Nigeria’s human resource gaps in healthcare.
The university runs the highest number of accredited health professional courses in any Nigerian university. We are the only university in West Africa training dental surgeons, technologists, and therapists at the degree level.”
On her part, the acting Dean of the School of Public Health, Prof. Ofonime Johnson, described the Grand Round as a yearly scientific gathering providing a platform for discussing emerging public health challenges. Earlier, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Adolphous Loto, stressed the importance of system resilience in public health.
MEANWHILE, the Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter, Dr Babajide Saheed, has called on the government to increase the remuneration of health workers in the country, including other benefits, saying it will help to stop the shortage of medical doctors in the health sector.
According to him, the increase in remuneration will stop the number of Nigerian medical doctors, nurses and other health workers, who travel outside the country to practise their profession for greener pastures.
The NMA chairman, who made this known yesterday, at the Nigerian Association of Dermatologists (NAD) 19TH Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Scientific Conference titled dermatology and global health, bridging the gap, held at Sickle Cell Centre, Idi-Araba, Lagos, added that government should increase the salaries of health workers to reflect the inflation in the country
