The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs has called for the upgrading of the State House Clinic, Abuja, to dissuade the President and other top government officials from going abroad for medical treatment. The senators also pledged to approve N1.3 billion in the 2021 budget for the upgrade of the Clinic. According to the committee, refurbishing the clinic will save the nation scarce resources expended on the treatment of the president and other top officials in foreign hospitals. The recommendation of the Senate committee is in line with the thinking of many Nigerians. Despite annual budgetary allocations, the State House Clinic has not been able to discharge its functions to the president and others.
The appalling condition of the State House Clinic is unacceptable. In the 2021 budget, out of the N19.7 billion voted for the State House, N1.3 billion is for the upgrade of the Clinic. Let the fund be judiciously utilised. It is unfortunate that the State House Clinic has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The complaints range from lack of basic medical equipment, essential drugs to other institutional inadequacies.
At a time, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, raised the alarm on the decrepit state of the clinic and called for a probe on its poor facilities, despite the huge budgetary allocation to it. Mrs. Buhari particularly bemoaned the dearth of some drugs and equipment needed for saving lives in the clinic. This is not how it should be. It is a national embarrassment for the clinic to be associated with lack of basic equipment and essential drugs. The State House Clinic should be a centre of excellence and a top class medical facility.
We believe that prompt fixing of the clinic will, to a large extent, curb the growing medical tourism by government officials and private individuals. However, it will require the total overhaul of the nation’s health sector to halt medical tourism and the brain drain in the health sector. Medical tourism by government officials says a lot about our healthcare delivery system. Apart from making us look unserious about healthcare, it exposes the healthcare data of our politicians and other prominent Nigerians to foreigners. This is the right time to refurbish the State House Clinic and bid goodbye to medical tourism by government officials.
President Muhammadu Buhari spent some time in London Hospital in his first term in office for medical treatment. Also, the First Lady was recently in Dubai for medical treatment. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua also spent some time in hospital abroad. Some governors and other politicians are also involved in medical tourism. The country loses billions of naira to medical tourism every year.
Even though it is belated, the call for the upgrading of the State House Clinic is welcome. However, the exercise must be adequately funded. It should go beyond the official pronouncement. Similarly, we call for adequate funding and equipment of other public health institutions in the country, especially the teaching hospitals, the centres of medical excellence. Attaining this feat entails substantial increase of the health budget and effective monitoring of its implementation. We suggest that the Federal Government should increase the annual health budget to at least 20 per cent to ensure optimum performance. We decry the current budgetary allocation of less than five per cent to the sector.
A functional healthcare system also demands an improvement in the welfare of all health workers to prevent the exodus of experts from the sector. Enhancing the welfare of the health workers will bring home our medical experts living abroad.
The facilities at the National Hospital, Abuja and other public hospitals also need to be improved. Our public hospitals and even tertiary health institutions should stop being referred to as mere consulting centres. The federal and state governments must stop paying lip service to the health sector. Let the State House Clinic be made to function efficiently.