Nigeria losing billions of Naira to medical tourism
President of the Nigerian Society of Interventional Radiology, Prof. Ana's Ismail, said Nigeria is losing a huge amount of money to medical tourism. Ismail said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, on the sidelines of a dinner organised to close the 7th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association of Radiologists in Nigeria (ARIN).
He said the loss arose from inadequate functioning equipment for radiologists to carry out their practice effectively. The president also traced it to limited number of trained radiologists in the country to manage these patients.
"The key challenges facing the practice of Interventional Radiology (IR) in Nigeria at the moment are related to an inadequate number of functioning equipment to treat patients and a limited number of trained personnel to manage these patients.
"Also, there is the high cost of other items, accessories and consumables, which are used in providing services. As a result of this, we are losing a considerable number of patients. "Some of these patients who can travel out of the country to access treatment elsewhere are doing so, which is not good for the health sector and the economy," Ismail said.
In a related interview, Dr Wande Titus, a consultant radiologist for Breast Imaging Society of Nigeria (BISON), NISA Hospital, Jabi, Abuja, urged Nigerians not to fear breast cancer.
According to him, the health challenge is treatable. She said that her society had a particular interest in breast imaging and that BISON images high-risk patients diagnosed with breast cancer and those who are suspicious of breast cancer.
"We do the imaging which comprises breast ultrasound scan, mammogram; we also do breast MIR depending on the level of the patient's problem. "We give them accurate diagnosis to prevent wrong treatment, and for those that have risk for cancer.
"We aim to detect them early so that we can give them good treatment; we want everyone to know that cancer is treatable if it is diagnosed early. "Part of what we have noticed is that a lot of people have fears about cancer; there is a lot of misconception about cancer, not every breast issue usually results to cancer," she said.
Prof. Sule Saidu, immediate past president of ARIN, told NAN that radiologists contributed greatly to patient care at the hospital. According to him, radiologists contribute to patient care either through diagnosis or intervention through the use of ultrasound, x-ray, among others.
