Nigerian medical practitioners commenting on the frequent trips of President Umar Musa Yar’Adua abroad for medical treatment say it is becoming an embarrassment to the Nigerian health system.
“If the president has to travel anytime he is sick, it shows that our health system is just prostrate,” says the immediate past president of the Nigeria Medical Association, Daniel Gana, who added that “it’s unfortunate that at this time that government claims to be spending so much on the health system and to improve the millennium development goals; our number one citizen is still travelling abroad for medical treatment.”
Mr. Gana wouldn’t comment on the nature of the illness, saying it is unethical for any doctor to divulge a patients’ diagnosis to the public. But he adds that, whether he realises it or not, his continual trips are affecting the psyche of Nigerians.
“No doubt he has a right to seek healthcare anywhere he wants in the world, as long as it is not from tax-payers’ money, but, if it is, then it is unfortunate; and it will have a negative impact on the psyche of Nigerians and the economy.”
Adeyemi Johnson, a cardiologist, however defended the frequent trips, saying the rarity of the ailment might be the reason it can’t be treated in the country. “This maybe why he has to go out, but I really don’t know; I can’t say.”