Health Challenges and the Emergence of Medical Tourism in Nigeria: A Historical Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines health challenges in Nigeria and the emergence of medical tourism. It argues that the challenges confronting the public health sector in Nigeria, despite the wide-ranging efforts by the various governments to provide quality healthcare to all Nigerians precipitated the emergence of medical tourism. The paper discusses some of the problems bedevilling public healthcare and submits that the myriads of problems forced Nigerians to embrace medical tourism as an alternative. The paper further argues that since the popularization of medical tourism in the 1990s, Indian hospitals have proven to be the most favourable destinations to prospective Nigerians seeking health care owing to the higher costs available in Europe and the United States. The paper adopts the multi-disciplinary approach to historical research. This method permits the borrowing of relevant materials from related disciplines thereby giving room for narrative, descriptive and analytical style that yields deeper insights into the history of healthcare system in Nigeria. It concludes that the government should ensure that healthcare is provided for all since it is the right of all citizens of the country, irrespective of status. Finally, it recommends the removal of the bottlenecks in the Nigerian health system and improve the quality of service in the healthcare sector this will reduce medical tourism to its barest minimum.