Lai Mohammed: Nigerians Spend $1.6 Billion Annually On Medical Tourism

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has said Nigerians spend between $1.2 and $1.6 billion on medical tourism annually.

Mohammed who disclosed this during a guided tour of Duchess International Hospital in Lagos, on Tuesday, said this had been a drain on the country’s foreign reserves.

Alhaji Mohammed said that according to available records, Nigerians spend between $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion on medical tourism annually, a development he described as a huge drain on the country’s foreign reserves.

The minister noted, however, that the federal government was determined to stop the trend through several health interventions and provision of the enabling environment for private-sector driven enterprises like Duchess to thrive.

He disclosed that the federal government, through the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), invested $5.5 million each in two diagnostic centres in Kano and Umuahia, and another $11.5 million in the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre in Lagos.

Mohammed described the 100-bed Duchess as a purpose-built, state-of-the-art hospital aimed at delivering the highest standard of healthcare using the most advanced technology and treatments to provide Nigerians with the best medical expertise available anywhere in the world.