Please,let us educate Atiku! (I)

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is an aspirant in the upcoming Presidential election in Nigeria. Atiku hinged his decision to run for the presidency, once again, on the need to rescue Nigeria. This may not be quite the way!

In the news
Atiku Abubakar has reportedlysealed a partnership with Saudi German Hospital, Dubai, to establish a world-class medical facility in Abuja. The former vice-president said the joint venture project has the potential to reduce the spate of medical tourism among Nigerians.

This is the subject of this article.
Okay, a disclaimer, we have not seen the actual MOU and so it is difficult to comment factually on the issue. Secondly, this project to build a 100 bedded hospital is still on paper. Then, perhaps now is the time to comment,‘in abstract’ and inform the elder-stateman about a few important points.

The education
The Saudi German Hospital (SGH) is looking to build a Trojan horse in Nigeria. The ‘world-class medical facility’ is a referral centre to spirit Nigerian patients to Dubai for expensive medical treatment. It is simply a conduit for exploitation of Nigerians for the sole benefit of the SGH and West Africa Health-Care Company Limited (Atiku’s company).
Sir, you will again, be opening up the Nigerian healthcare space and healthcare practitioners to unsafe competition that will do nothing to reverse medical tourism. Instead, it will accelerate it, making life even more difficult for Nigerian doctors and Nigerians as a whole. SGH is not interested in building local capacity otherwise they will act as foreign technical partners,with Nigerian hospitals, to transfer knowledge and enhance local health care delivery.
Partnering with a politician shows disdain for our doctors and local healthcare practitioners. It allows SGH to bypass our weak regulations and control systems using political clout and financial inducements. It will not help the Nigerian you wish to serve.

Instead, it will help SGH to pillage Nigeria!
Make Nigeria Great
Governments all over the world put their communities first. They ensure protection of local content and curtail unbridled capitalism by foreigners. They put systems and regulations in place to protect the local economy. It is only in Nigeria that politicians and government does not ensure local businesses and practitioners are not disadvantaged by unfair competition.
This deal the SGH are seeking is the classic funneling technique that has been used in the past by other cowboys. It has been used against the UAE by London hospitals through technical jargon like ’joint venture’. All it did was getthose in the UAE to identify and refer rich, fee paying clients to London for medical tourism. The Indians also used it through their diagnostic centres and telemedicine trickery to facilitate medical tourism to India.
SGH cannot sustain leaving its trained staff here in Nigeria to transfer knowledge and technical skills that will enhance local practice. It is simply not affordable. Instead they are planning to train locals to identify financially capable clients and refer them to Dubai!This deal with SGH will not benefit the Nigerian patient. It will not reduce medical tourism. It will lead to more deaths as Nigerians are shuttled on about 5 to 7 hours air travel to Dubai.
The Guild of Medical Directors, The Nigerian Medical Association and the Federal Ministry of Health must discourage Atiku from concluding this deal. Please shine your eyes!

Solution
The National Hospital was our world-class facility built in 1999 to cater for Nigerians. Huge amounts of money were spent and equipment bought for the facility. It has not delivered because healthcare is more than just a building with equipment.
The Aso Rock Clinic or State House Medical Centre is another bloody white elephant that has not demonstrated fitness for purpose. Again, healthcare is much more than a building with equipment. We have the money and have spent loads on these and similar hospitals all over the country.
To really improve things, we need to improve local trust and confidence in healthcare practice in Nigeria. We need to partner with hospitals and organisations that will train local healthcare practitioners for work in Nigeria. Rwanda partners with foreign hospitals to train its doctors to provide quality healthcare in Rwanda. It promotes universal healthcare coverage for all and does not allow a few impostors to cheat its citizens.
We need to enact policies that protect our economy as these companies are only coming here to line their pockets. This deal and others like it are therefore socially irresponsible. They disadvantage local hospitals with the talents and requisite skills while simultaneously promoting medical tourism.
Same governance and financial principles should be applied to all organisations under open procurement system. This means Atiku and all other parties in Nigeria with a private and or not for profit owned healthcare business or organisations should be registered as such. A level playing field that has the interest of all Nigerians irrelevant of class, socio-economic and religious should be the government guiding principles. This effectively means that no government funds should be applied to a system that does not benefit the poor who cannot bear out of pocket expenses to address healthcare needs inside and outside Nigeria.
Government funds should be channelled to strengthening the weak regulatory and service level providers. Rehabilitation of all government funded hospitals with transparency of financial flows. Match funding all Diaspora initiated investments via alumni associations and services. Institutional partnership between government funded institutions and well known proven accredited foreign healthcare institutions with the sole aim of capacity building in Nigeria. This should be actively supported, documented by government with regular oversight.
Our policies should ensure healthcare remains in national hands while experiencing dramatic improvements.

Please stop
Nigerian healthcare has been chronically underfunded and crippled by those in government. Yet, it remains incredibly attractive to foreigners looking at our national cake. This free for all where foreigners are granted unlimited and unfettered access to the cake will not take us where we need to go. This free invitation to the fest is not designed to cater for what our population needs at the national level.

Please stop.
Sir Atiku, charity begins at home. There arefantastic Nigerian doctors and great hospitals in the private sector seeking such partnerships. We look to you for leadership that empowers not impoverish our healthcare system.Please bring your company into local collaborations to improve healthcare for all.
All other well-meaning Nigerians are also invited to invest massively in healthcare in Nigeria, for Nigerians. We must ‘Make Nigeria Great’ by focusing first on what benefits us collectively and shunning the ‘what’s in it for me, syndrome’.

The first beneficiary maybe you and your family!

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