Beyond medical tourism abroad

Sometime in April, my brother-in-law, a venerable (archdeacon) in the Anglican Church, lamented over how he and his wife were treated when they took his elder brother to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri.
What bothered John Uruakpa so much was not that his brother’s health was deteriorating at an alarming rate, but the manner doctors and nurses at the government-owned FMC treated with levity the man’s case who was brought there on referral.
The man could not eat, sleep and pass stool. He coughed uncontrollably, had blood oozing from his nose which made breathing a herculean task. Neither him nor those looking after him could sleep.
Because of the amount of lost blood, the private hospital where he was on admission infused several pints of blood in him, and after he got some stability, referred him to the FMC for further investigation.
Uruakpa said preliminary medical investigation did not reveal that he was a victim of the dreaded Ebola virus or diagnosed of any terminal ailment that could have threatened the lives of care givers at the FMC or any other hospital.
The private hospital where the man was originally admitted spelt out what it thought the FMC could do to advance his treatment. The referral was for superior advice so that proper diagnosis would be carried out.
But instead of the doctors and nurses at the FMC providing medication, and relieving agonising relations, they abandoned him.
Uruakpa narrated that from morning till evening when they brought his brother to the hospital, the doctors and nurses simply left him to his fate, with some of them conjecturing he was probably a victim of Ebola. What an irony! Without admission or investigation?
All efforts by him and his wife, who is a senior registered trained nurse/midwife, to get the hospital officials to attend to the man fell on deaf ears.
Though they were shocked to the marrow that such a cold treatment could be meted out to the sick on referral by those who took the so-called Hippocratic Oath, it also dawned on them that the reason so many patients die suddenly in hospital is principally because some hospitals have deviated from the purpose for which they were set up.
With the resolve to save his brother’s life, Uruakpa moved him out to another private hospital, where again he received treatment but was referred back to the same FMC, Owerri.
“I will never go to the FMC, Owerri again for whatever reason. But tomorrow we will go to the FMC, Umuahia since it is the same government hospital. That is what my spirit is telling me,” he said sadly.
At the FMC, Umuahia, his brother was received and attended to immediately, and investigation revealed that wrong diagnosis had caused several complications that were about to terminate his life if the right steps were not taken urgently.
The Uruakpas knew that time was of essence and were ready to save the life of one of them, but the doctors and nurses at the FMC, Owerri thought differently.
It is in the habit of doctors and nurses at the FMC, Owerri to engage in indefinite strike. They derive pleasure in doing so. When they are not doing that, they fight the leadership of the hospital, and this has destroyed the good intention of the hospital and diverted attention from treating the sick to being perpetual protesters.
What stares you in the face when you visit the FMC, Owerri is strike by doctors and nurses, and a desolate environment with wards of patients abandoned to wait for death.
The above preamble is critical to this week’s discussion in this column because of the 10-day vacation President Muhammadu Buhari took to travel outside the country to treat his ear infection.
The government has a lot to do to control the mounting medical tourism that has become part of Nigerians’ lifestyle. It is now an ego thing to say you went for treatment abroad. If you have a relation who did not die of a particular ailment overseas you belong to the lower cadre of the society.
That is why, week in and out, Nigerians travel in their hundreds to the United States of America, Britain, Germany, France, Finland, India and South Africa for medical treatment.
Matters are made worse by the popular saying that “health is wealth”, hence we seldom consider the huge amount the country loses in foreign exchange (forex) from families that fly their loved ones outside Nigeria for health related issues, including minor ones like headache, tooth ache, catarrh, and what have you.
In the case of Buhari, who is currently in the United Kingdom to deal with challenges posed by his ear, most people are already complaining, including yours sincerely.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Lawal Babachir, disclosed on Wednesday, June 8 that three ministers are also overseas for medical treatment.
What bothers me is that a president who introduced a policy stipulating that senior government officials should be barred from medical tourism outside our shores should not have been the first to jet out for the same purpose with his ministers.
Nigeria boasts no fewer than 250 Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialists who themselves confirmed during the week that they have all it takes to solve the problem that took Buhari to the UK.
Nobody disputes the competence of ENT doctors in Nigeria.
However, if what happened to Uruakpa’s brother – who was almost wasted by doctors and nurses at the FMC, Owerri – is anything to go by, it becomes obvious that Nigerians and our system are the ones fueling the desperation of people to go for medical treatment abroad.
Medicine, no matter the area of specialisation, is a serious profession that practitioners are supposed to be serious human beings both physically and spiritually. Unfortunately, most are yet to come to that understanding. And the situation gets worse by the day.
I get worried over the attitude of doctors in our country as against their counterparts oversees. Those in government hospitals abandon their beat for private practice because of money. It is not only nauseating but also defeats the aim of medical philosophy, doctrine, and practice.
Everywhere in the country resident doctors have taken industrial action to the level that looks like it is an aspect of medicine they have to specialise in.
Buhari owes Nigeria a duty to monitor what is going on in government hospitals. The health sector needs high level of sanitisation. It has to start from the president and key government officials by patronising such government hospitals to enable them look closely at what the personnel are up to.
After nearly 56 years of independence, Nigeria should boast hospitals where different kinds of ailments can be treated.
A situation where Nigerians, including our president, jet out at the slightest medical threat simply because our hospitals lack equipment for diagnosis and treatment is not sustainable.