Federal government has reiterated its commitment to revitalizing the nation’s health sector to minimize the rate of medical tourism and inability to combat outbreak of deadly diseases.

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed the commitment at the course participants of the Senior Executive Course, SEC 41 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, whom he urged to provide solutions to issues that could close the gaps in the institutional, legal and policy frameworks for funding universal healthcare delivery for the good of the country.

President Buhari lamented that Nigeria loses over four hundred billion naira annually to medical tourism and urged stakeholders to join hands to find solution to it.

He also persuaded them to embark on researches that would examine the experiences of other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Americas in funding universal healthcare delivery and how lessons learnt can benefit the country.

Represented by the Plateau State governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, the president noted that he approved the theme of the study, ‘Funding Universal Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria’ out of his desire to tackle challenges of the health sector funding.

He informed that his government provided fifty- five point one billion naira in 2018 for basic healthcare system in accordance with the National Health Act signed in 2014.