Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has called for increased investments in top medical care and the overall healthcare sector in Nigeria, saying it would birth one of “the fastest growth areas in a resurgent Nigerian economy.”
Spokesman to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said in a release that Prof Osinbajo stated this on Thursday during his virtual remarks at the official unveiling of the Evercare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos.
Evercare Hospital, part of the Evercare Group, operates as an integrated healthcare delivery platform in emerging markets across Africa and South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Nigeria. The international group has set aside a $1billion healthcare fund.
Osinbajo said: “The business case for more top quality medical care in Nigeria has always seemed quite obvious but I think the fact that the Evercare Health Fund, (a US $1billion emerging markets healthcare fund) has chosen to invest in healthcare in Nigeria clearly confirms even to the greatest sceptics that we are seeing the birth of what may well become one of the fastest growth areas in a resurgent Nigerian economy.”
Medical tourism
The vice president observed that “the trend of outbound medical tourism” must be reversed and there is the need to “attract not just medical tourists from our neighbours in the region but also become the place of choice for even developed countries’ medical tourists looking to jump long queues for specialized procedures at home.”
He emphasized that the emergence of the Evercare Hospital would bring about a u-turn in the brain drain of medical personnel trained in Nigeria who are engaged in hospitals abroad because of better remuneration and better facilities.
Accessibility to healthcare
Noting the peculiarity of the situation in Nigeria in terms of accessibility to healthcare, Prof Osinbajo pointed out that “we have by far the largest number of middle-to-low income communities and individuals in sub-Saharan Africa who require affordable, high quality healthcare.”
The Vice President expressed his optimism and excitement in the facility with “first-of-its-kind-purpose-built, 165-bed state-of-the-art international private hospital that offers an extensive range of specialty medical and surgical services.”
He also expressed his pleasure at the fact that “in addition to its local world class personnel, the hospital will leverage technology to consult with international specialists across the 29 hospitals and 16 clinics currently in its portfolio.”
The Vice President added “we are certainly set for exciting times in the Nigerian healthcare story.”
In his remarks, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu, commended the management of the hospital for their collaboration with citizens of Lagos, local and foreign investors in building a hospital of high standards to cater for the people.
Nneka Ukachukwu
