PUNCH
Nigeria spent a total of $1.04m on foreign healthcare-related services in the first quarter of 2023, The PUNCH has learnt.
The total spending for the period under review was obtained from the quarterly statistical bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria for Q1 2023.
The PUNCH observed that the amount spent in Q1 2023 was an increase of 40.54 per cent from the $0.74m spent in Q1 2022.
A breakdown shows that medical tourism gulped $0.34m in January 2023, $0.32m in February 2023, and the amount increased to $0.38m in March 2023.
Many Nigerian leaders and politicians travel abroad to seek medical treatment in the face of crises in the health sector, poor primary health care system, poor facilities, brain drain, and disease outbreaks, among others.
It will be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari repeatedly travelled out of the country for medical treatment.
The PUNCH reported in May that Buhari, his wife, and his son, Yusuf, spent over 250 days…
