Nigeria Loses $1bn Annually On Nigerians Who Go Abroad For Treatment- FG
Dr Osagie Ehanire (Minister of State for Health)[/caption]
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on Thursday revealed that the country loses an estimated sum of one billion dollars ($1bn) annually, on Nigerians who travel abroad to get their desired medical services.
The minister, who disclosed this during a familiarisation visit to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, added that the federal government would as a result of the loss incurred yearly, build 10,000 functional primary healthcare centres across the country.
According to him, constructing more healthcare centres around the country would reduce pressure on tertiary health institutions.
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“We are losing estimated one billion dollars on Nigerians going abroad to get treatment. We have tertiary hospitals that should be good enough to handle what most Nigerians go abroad for.
“What we should do is to ensure training and retraining of staff, provide equipment and ensure proper modern service delivery; we must have patient-centered healthcare service,” he said.
