UPDATE as UITH declares vision to become center for medical tourism

The Board of Management, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) has expressed optimism that it want Nigeria to be a centre for medical tourism destination.
The Chairman of the Board, Mr Olorogun Emerhor, stated this on Wednesday, while briefing news men at the Hospital in Ilorin.
He said this would be achievable by improving on the facilities as the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari, who appointed the board.
According to him, the message from the President was passed to them by the Minister of
Health, Prof. Isaac Adewale, who did the innauguration .
He said: “This is to ensure that the health situation of Nigeria is improved rapidly.
“Our teaching hospitals function at optimum position, we should drive towards the vision of making Nigeria a medical tourist destination in the nearest future.

“This is what the President want, this is what he has directed the minister of health to achieve and that is what we have brought to institutionalize in this University teaching hospital”.

He said the job is simply to build on what has been achieved so far and to take the UITH further and ensuring that “we become a word class university teaching hospital that can compete with other similar teaching hospital around the world.
“To become a tourist destination, our hospital must be such that Nigeria can have confidence to come here to treat themselves, instead of going outside Nigeria.
“It also mean that people from other country will be coming here to receive treatment instead of all of us tripping to India, America, and UK for treatment”.
Emerhor however stressed that most of the challenge that institution like that faced most time, is funding.
He said the health sector can no longer depend entirely on government for funding but must find alternative and the opportunity to partner with private sector and with international organisation to receive grant.
He hinted that the UITH will collate all experiences as a board and improve the fortune of the institution, while continuing to push government to meet their commitment to the institution by releasing budgeted expenditure.