Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has said that the number of patients seeking specialist healthcare at medical centres in the country have surpassed expectations.

Mrs. Ahmed said this while speaking at a meeting with the team of Nigerian Ambassador to Egypt and representatives of Saudi-German Hospital (SGH) in Cairo, Egypt.

This comes after a previous meeting with Kaduna State Government on healthcare management and operations.

Speaking in Egypt, Mrs. Ahmed noted that as of 2008, Nigerians spent $1.0billion in medical tourism.

The minister added: “We are compelled to travel outside our shores for healthcare due to the dearth in professional healthcare facilities and management in Nigeria. This means that we have the capacity to pay for quality healthcare anywhere.

“Why can we not bring these facilities to Nigeria, by government introducing deliberate policies backed by funding,to attract similar healthcare service providers to Nigeria.”

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Recalling areas of healthcare that Nigerians seek professional services, Ahmed said: “There are four main areas of healthcare in which Nigerians all over the country seek professional services. Namely, oncology, cardio-vascular, nephrology and orthopaedic medicine.”

She told the team that Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) on behalf of the Federal Government has been investing in the affected healthcare areas through collaboration with the Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres across the country.

She stated that the government through the NSIA has established three specialist centres in Kano, Lagos and Abia states.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji, said the NSIA has commenced the construction of an advanced medical centre in Abuja and have plans for three more oncology centres and 23 diagnostic centres.

He stated that there were plans to establish large regional diagnostic centres by supporting third party investors in the healthcare delivery platform in Nigeria, adding that the NSIA has reached out to co-investors.

“The huge investments are being carried out as the government looks to attract professional healthcare experts and managers into Nigeria,” Orji added.

The Star