The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, has said that the royal family in Saudi Arabia use to visit Nigeria on medical tourism. The minister, who stated this in Abuja on Monday, revealed that Nigeria once benefitted from medical tourism which other countries took to the country.
He said, “In the 50s and 60s, Nigeria benefitted from medical tourism even as the royal family from Saudi Arabia used to come to the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan for treatment. Some people travel abroad for treatment to get equipment or facilities that are not in the country. We need to ensure that we have facilities on the ground that will make our citizens stay back home for treatment. This includes; physical infrastructure, personnel, and equipment. Our duty as a country is to put in place proper medicare facilities to take care of the health of citizens. Once these things are provided, medical tourism will be reduced and it will make our hospitals attractive.”