Health: Doctors launch a national strike as Buhari heads to UK for medical treatment

Doctors launch a national strike to protest against working conditions and salary arrears, the President has left the country to seek medical assistance in the United Kingdom. An irony that has not gone unnoticed. Buhari has now spent 170 days abroad for treatment during his presidency.

When he arrived in office, Buhari promised to raise the standard of living for the many, with basic healthcare part of the deal.

Buhari’s gratuitous visit to the UK is indeed self-implicating. A recent poll shows that 88 per cent of Nigerian doctors are considering work opportunities abroad due to the nation’s decaying health sector. The General Medical Council, the government body that maintains the UK’s official register of medical practitioners, listed over 8,000 Nigerian-trained doctors in the UK, adding that Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors in the country. Selflessly, the UK Government introduced a policy in February to discourage the recruitment of doctors from Nigeria and other countries facing a shortage of doctors at home. In the middle of all this, the President of Nigeria travels to the UK for medical tourism. This is indeed shameful.

“I am aware that out of pocket payment for health constitute over 70% of total health expenditure”, said Buhari at the opening of a new healthcare facility in 2017. “My presence here today demonstrates our Administration’s commitment to put [the] health of Nigerians as a top priority”.