Afe Babalola Hospital Condemns Medical Tourism

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Chief Medical Director, The Afe Babalola Multisystem Hospital(AMSH),  Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe,  has appealed  people, particularly the political class that they have no reason traveling abroad for medical services, the AMSH has facilities to cater to such medical needs.

Ogundipe stated this  when  the hospital  declared two days free medical services to mark the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the 400-bed medical facility.

 He said with the giant leaps  being made by the hospital in terms of proficiency and quality medical services, that Nigerians have  no reason traveling abroad for medicare .

According to him, in  United Kingdom (UK), the cost for the treatment of Heart Valve replacement is 17,000 pounds, but in AMSH, it costs between N5 million and N7 million, noting  that even  their  dialysis services is the cheapest in Ekiti.

Apart from being a centre of excellence in  treatment of diseases,  the CMD stated that AMSH is upscaling its contributions to medical education, post graduate training and research, leading to the production of virucidine herbal drug for the management of COVID-19.

Ogundipe  added that  the two days  free medical services would  complement the Corporate Social Responsibilities(CSR) being undertaken by the hospital that had benefited thousands of people in Ekiti and  neighbouring states.

 “At the inception of this hospital, under this CSR, all patients seeking antenatal care were enrolled at no cost from registration to delivery. In addition, indigent patients who could not access medical care were managed on founder’s accounts from time to time.

 “Contrary to popular belief that cost of accessing healthcare in multisystem hospital is high, comparatively, the hospital offers the cheapest healthcare services given the array of services available, the highly qualified professionals involved and the kind of care we offer.

  “On our platform, those whose services had been discounted ran to over N50m, let alone those who got free health services and those whose bills were paid by Chief Afe Babalola”.

 The medical practitioner stated that the health institution is working tirelessly to halt  medical tourism draining several billions of naira from Nigerians yearly , by acquiring  the best equipment and assembled array of medical professionals that can  handle any complicated situation.

  Speaking about AMSH’s giant strides to bring radical reform to the country’s debilitating health sector, Ogundipe added that the teaching hospital has become a frontline health institution  in sub-saharan Africa in general medicine and treatment of kidney, heart and cardiovascular diseases.

    The CMD stated that the hospital had offered multi-million naira free health services to indigent residents  covering medical and surgical services, with beneficiaries’ bills defrayed by the founder,  Chief Afe Babalola(SAN) under the CSR initiative.

 On how to solve the challenge of cancer that was killing Nigerians ,  the CMD revealed that the hospital would soon  establish a Cancer Centre that would offer services to people at affordable prices . 

 He added that the hospital would soon set up an outreach centre in the heart of Ado Ekiti metropolis to bring secondary healthcare  services close to the populace.

Ogundipe  said the hospital had benefited financial grants from international donors and spirited individuals , urging other non-governmental agencies to partner the hospital to solidify the health sector in the country.