People from US, UK, other countries now troop into Nigeria for quality healthcare – Minister

The Federal Government has approved the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to ratify the African Medicines Agency treaty.

The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, announced this after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Tuesday, stating that the treaty was initiated by the African Union Heads of State and Government at their 32nd meeting in Addis Ababa in February 2019.

“So far, 37 member states of the African Union have signed the treaty, and 26 have ratified it. The Federal Executive Council today directed that the treaty be ratified by Nigeria and directed us to take all actions to give effect to the treaty,” he said.

Pate explained that the treaty aims to improve regulatory capacities for medical products, ensuring access to safe and quality-assured medicines while establishing common standards across Africa. He added that it would expand the market for medical products manufactured in Nigeria.

The minister further disclosed that FEC approved six contracts for major diagnostic equipment, including three Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines and two CT scan machines, for hospitals such as the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta, Obafemi Awolowo University, Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital in Yola, and the Federal Teaching Hospital in Kebbi.

“You can see that gradually, piece by piece, we have been building our health infrastructure at a higher level in the teaching hospital. People are now beginning to come to Nigeria from the region to receive quality healthcare, including from places like the United Kingdom and the United States,” Pate said.

He stated that the transformation in Nigeria’s healthcare sector, as promised by President Bola Tinubu, is beginning to take shape and will be sustained with continuous investment.