Re: Deaths in London – Need to Halt Medical Tourism By Prof M. K. Othman

Re: Deaths in London – Need to Halt Medical Tourism
By Prof M. K. Othman

Health issues matter because being healthy is essential for performing even the most basic human functions. My two-part article on this subject drew comments expressing Nigerians’ serious concerns. We have what it takes to provide quality health services comparable to those in the countries we visit and support. So, why can’t we tackle the health issue and become an African market for effective health service delivery?
I am sharing some of the comments with my esteemed readers to broaden the discussion; perhaps, our leaders and the wealthy among us can take on the challenge to do what is needed. Happy reading.

Thank you and well done, my Prof. Othman. I hope they’ll open their banana leaves to listen to these words of wisdom. The decay in our society from top to bottom has reached a point of no return. Every layer and stratum has been deeply corrupted. It is not that we cannot build state-of-the-art hospitals in all six geopolitical zones and Abuja to serve any ailment, but the lack of will from those in charge will never allow it to happen. They prefer to go on medical tourism where more money can be siphoned from the government coffers.
After looting and stashing the cash there, you fail to seek them out, approach them, they kill you, and everything ends up as vanity upon vanity. Let us understand that when death comes, no amount of sophistication can spare one from its grip. No one on earth with all the technology in the world can prove one verse of the Qur’an wrong about life.
Allah says in the Qur’an, ‘They are asking you about the ‘ruh’; say unto them, the ‘ruh’ is from Allah’s command, and you are given but a little knowledge about it. You can’t point out its position in the body to prevent it (the command of Allah) from occurring. It is just waiting for the command and ‘Kun fa yakuun.’
I hope we’ll understand.
Prof Sani Isiaku
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Assalamu Alaykum, Sir.
After reading your article on Medical Tourism, I wanted to share that General Sani Abacha, of blessed memory, refused to seek medical treatment abroad, and his personal physician provided the necessary health services until his death. Who was General Sani Abacha’s personal doctor? Dr. Sadiq Sulaiman Wali was the Nigerian physician who treated Abacha in Nigeria, unlike many Nigerian leaders who have made a habit of flying abroad for medical treatment. General Sani Abacha was treated in Nigeria by Dr. Sadiq Sulaiman Wali from Kano State. Looking at Dr. Wali’s profile shows that he was born in 1941 in Kano, attended Jahun and Dandago Primary Schools (1948–1953), Bichi, Barewa College in Zaria (1954–1959), the University of Lagos (MBBS, 1963–1968), London University (1971–1974), and Johns Hopkins University in the USA (1975). He served as a Registrar at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and Hammersmith Hospital in the UK. He was also a lecturer and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and a former Commissioner for Health in Kano State. Dr. Wali was qualified to practice medicine in any country, and many qualified Nigerians today, like him, work both within Nigeria and abroad.
General Abacha had numerous chances to seek healthcare abroad — but he chose not to. He trusted Nigeria’s medical system and received treatment at home, unlike many other leaders. This sets him apart from many past and current leaders. Abacha believed in Nigeria. He invested in Nigerian infrastructure, Nigerian doctors, and Nigerian institutions.
He died in Nigeria, under the care of a Nigerian doctor. This is part of the fuller story of General Abacha that many Nigerians are only just beginning to discover.
Yusuf Ahmed Bida
Do we have hope that things can actually get better in this country till the day the world will end? Because I see no difference between the commoner and the powerful elites. We all have the enzyme corotase in our genes, despite our high level of religious devotion in all quarters. The future is really bleak in this country.
This, unfortunately, is the truth: people are good to the extent that they have not had an opportunity. Except for very few whom the Almighty guides. May He have mercy on us.
Mr. Raji Abu
They felt/feel too big for our hospitals. They don’t believe our doctors are qualified enough to treat them. They spent a lot of money traveling abroad to see medical officers who were not up to the standard of those they had left behind. But the irony is that death is death. Dying in Nigeria or dying in London is all death. There is nothing anyone can do about it. Once you are GONE, you are gone; nothing can change. Unfortunately, after dying in London, their corpses will be returned here for burial. We need a law that whoever dies there should be buried there. Our country is not a Cemetery.
Dr Kassim Kajuru
London doesn’t save souls, but kind Nigeria rejects no motionless body. Home is home! Best wishes and rest in peace to everyone.
Nuradeen Shehu Bindawa
What is causing brain drain in the health sector and prompting people to seek medical services abroad are poor remuneration for workers, a devalued Naira reducing workers’ purchasing power, inadequate funding of the health sector, and budget padding.
There is a lack of adequate equipment and health care facilities; imagine there is only one Fibroscan (partially working) machine in the whole of Northern Nigeria, and there is a massive circulation of fake drugs. The challenges are unlimited. Let us address them to halt the medical tourism.
U. U. Aliyu
The elites who seek medical services abroad are very aware of the capacity of Nigerian physicians to handle their ailments. They also knew very well that our resources can establish health facilities across the nation similar to the ones they visit outside.
However, it seems to me that the elites do not want the Nigerian public to know the true nature of their health issues. They avoid speculation about their health and fear being ‘taken to the grave’ by the Nigerian public. By seeking treatment overseas and keeping their health status secret, they believe that public attention might shift to other issues instead of focusing on their health.
Prof Mohammad Makeri
Hmmm, Prof Sir, only Allah will reward you for taking the pains in highlighting all these. Their priorities are different. I wish one day, Nigeria would ban the flying back home of corpses that die in diaspora. Let them be buried where they died. After all, it’s not good to stress the corpse by subjecting it to this kind of long journey. Also, Nigeria’ no be graveyard’! It is well.
Dr Abdu Danbaba
I hope they would adhere to this clarion call before it’s too late
Ibrahim Suleiman