Oyo State Government has concluded plans to establish its first cardiovascular centre to discourage capital flight occasioned by medical tourism. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, disclosed this yesterday during a Legislative Advocacy Retreat for Oyo House of Assembly on Increased Domestic Funding for Health Especially Child and Family Health Issues held in Oyo town.
At the retreat which was organised by the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFAH) in collaboration with the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), Adeduntan said the plan was part of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s led administration’s promises to provide sustainable healthcare for the residents.
“People go to India, Pakistan for surgical operations including cardiovascular diseases, I get up to 20 petitions in a week from those seeking to go to these countries for operations. These people are not better than us; what they have is good leadership and thankfully we now have good leadership under Gov. Abiola Ajimobi who is committed improving the health indicators of the state. The establishment of a cardiovascular centre will help to drive revenue generation in the state as well as stop capital flight brought by medical tourism,” he said.
Adeduntan also commended the support of the legislature for supporting the executive through passing the Health Insurance Agency Bill and also the Primary Healthcare Bill. “All things belong to God and I know we will have this centre up and running very soon. 2017 will be better we have been seeking the support of the legislature to have laws that back health reform in the state,” he said.