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The Tinubu-led federal government has come under intense criticism as foreign exchange outflow for health-related travel by Nigerians surged to $549.29m in the first nine months of 2025, a 17.96 per cent increase from $465.67m in the same period of 2024.
Analysts and health experts slammed the government for failing to curb medical tourism despite repeated pledges to improve local healthcare infrastructure and reduce dependence on treatment abroad, reports The PUNCH.
The foreign exchange refers to the personal allowance an individual can obtain from the Central Bank of Nigeria for medical travel abroad. While the CBN tracks the FX outflow, it does not monitor how the money is spent.
Analysis of the CBN quarterly statistical bulletin for Q3 2025 shows sustained growth in medical-related travel expenses. Nigerians spent $151.53m in Q1 2025, $189.41m in Q2, and $208.35m in Q3, bringing the nine-month total to $549.29m. By comparison, the same period in 2024 recorded $142.95m, $153.67m, and $169.04m, respectively.
The increase underscores persistent demand for healthcare abroad, particularly for critical treatments such as cardiovascular procedures and other specialised care. Experts say declining trust in local health services and systemic disruptions continue to drive Nigerians with financial means to seek treatment overseas.
A recent high-profile case involved author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who alleged medical negligence after the death of her 21-month-old son in a Lagos hospital while preparing to get treatment in the United States.
Despite promises to reverse medical tourism, the figures indicate limited progress. In August 2023, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, pledged to prioritise health security and reduce outward medical travel.
In April 2025, he stated Nigeria loses about $2bn annually to medical tourism and emphasised the need to build health sovereignty. Earlier, in February 2025, he highlighted growing inbound medical visits: “People are now beginning to come to Nigeria from the region to receive quality healthcare… including people from faraway places like the United Kingdom and the United States.”
However, the recent FX outflow suggests these claims of reversal have not materialised.
Former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Olumide Akintayo, blamed worsening conditions in local health facilities for the spike, pointing to inefficiencies, corruption, and prolonged strikes.
“What the statistics and data you just quoted confirm authoritatively is that the health system has only gotten worse. We have just witnessed the longest-ever strike of health workers in the history of Nigeria — 84 days. When even a ward mate or ambulance driver goes on strike, you destroy the entire value chain. There is no way you can run surgeries effectively, drug procurement is impaired, and diagnostics in laboratories and radiology are disrupted,” Akintayo said.
He also cited mismanagement of drug supply systems and alleged corruption: “Go and probe even the little money that is made available and see how it is utilised. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission openly declared that Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the health sector were among the most corrupt in Nigeria. That is why those health institutions are not working.”
According to Akintayo, many Nigerians travel abroad for medicines not readily available locally, including cardiovascular drugs, anti-diabetic agents, antibiotics, anti-cancer medicines, and anti-malarials.
“The shortages of these drugs push patients to foreign hospitals,” he said, also criticising the handling of the drug revolving fund policy over the years.
The rising FX outflow comes amid broader pressures to stabilise Nigeria’s external reserves and the naira.
Nigerian Medical Association President, Prof Bala Audu, noted that most Nigerians seeking FX for medical travel likely pursue treatment for chronic and advanced diseases, particularly advanced cancers.
He stressed that the absence of detailed CBN data on the purpose of these travels limits policy responses.
“Without that information, it would be very difficult to proffer a solution. But most likely it will be for chronic debilitating diseases such as different types of advanced cancers,” Audu said.
Audu emphasised that Nigerian doctors are globally competitive, with many recruited abroad, but gaps in equipment and infrastructure constrain treatment availability.
“For most treatments that are not available, the competent people to give those treatments are available.
“But what about the equipment? Some of these treatments need certain equipment. Sometimes you have the equipment, but you don’t have the reagents. Sometimes tests have to be sent abroad, even by big private laboratories, because we don’t provide for them,” he said.
He linked the challenges to poor funding, noting that of the 2025 capital budget of N218bn, only N36m was released. “The quality of healthcare we get is reflective of the quality of what we put in. If you provide bicycles, you cannot expect them to fly,” Audu said, drawing an analogy with aviation.
Former NMA President Prof Mike Ogirima expressed concern over the outflow of FX, describing medical tourism as a drain on the country’s foreign reserves.
“That means the country will not be buoyant enough to transact business across the borders easily with the dwindling foreign reserve due to high FX for medical tourism,” he said.
He cited poor equipment and underfunded hospitals as key drivers, noting that the affluent often travel abroad due to better-equipped facilities. “Most of our public hospitals are not equipped to manage sophisticated care, and they lack life support gadgets,” he added, also pointing to the influence of the “Japa” syndrome in escalating medical tourism.
