It’s a big plus for the Duchess International Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, that it has Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on its side. His goodwill message to the management and staff of the hospital on its first anniversary speaks volumes about the weight of his endorsement.

Osinbajo recalled that he underwent orthopaedic surgery in one of the hospital’s “state-of-the-art theatres,” and also spent a week on admission post-surgery in “perhaps one of the most comfortable hospital accommodations anywhere in the world.”

He described the hospital as “world-class, both in the quality of its medical personnel and its management,” adding that “it is living up to its mission to reverse medical tourism by delivering the highest standards of care using the most advanced technology and treatments to give the fastest, most convenient access to the best medical expertise available anywhere in the world.”

The hospital’s medical director, Dr Adedoyin Dosunmu-Ogunbi, had said the vice president’s surgery in July was “on account of a fracture of his right femur (thigh bone), possibly related to a longstanding injury associated with a game of squash.”

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The surgical operation was performed by a team of Nigerian specialist doctors. It was reported that some “government and private practice doctors” had advised him to consider having the operation abroad, but he insisted on a Nigerian hospital and Nigerian medical experts.

The success of the operation not only confirmed his faith in the hospital; it also corroborated the facility’s image as a centre of medical excellence.

But it must be noted that the hospital is a private hospital. Osinbajo’s surgery experience there gives the impression that its status as a private hospital was an important contributory factor.

Are there public hospitals in the country that boast similar standards? The answer to the question may well be negative.  The Federal Government’s budget for the health sector over the years is mainly responsible for that.

Notably, heads of state of African Union countries, in April 2001, met in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and pledged to set a target of allocating at least 15 percent of their annual budget to improve the health sector. It is disappointing that Nigeria has consistently failed to meet the standard of the Abuja Declaration.

The country’s 2022 budget is N17.16 trillion, and N724 billion (4.2 percent) was allocated for healthcare across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Poor funding cannot produce public hospitals of the standard of Duchess Hospital.