Reacting to President Buhari’s comment against oversea’s medical treatment, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has observed as self- indicting the government’s statement.
The opposition party on Sunday added that such conflicting assertion raises public apprehensions on high-level deceits in Buhari’s government.
In a statement by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party described as ridiculous, a situation where a President, who patronizes foreign hospitals for treatment and even check-ups is calling on it’s ordinary citizen to shun foreign treatments.
The opposition party noted how odd it is sounds for an administration that has failed to provide adequate healthcare in the country, could turn around to propose to the citizens to patronize local hospitals against foreign treatment.
According to PDP, “Mr President can then discover that our health system has suffered untold neglect under his watch, leading to dilapidated infrastructure, empty drug shelves, decrepit and worn- out equipment, brain drain and a demoralized workforce worse than his 1983 recollections.
“It is even more disheartening that all the investments and robust programmes of successive PDP administration, including the comprehensive National Strategic Health Development Plan, Saving One Million Lives Initiatives, National Health Insurance Scheme, among others, have been degraded and impaired by the dysfunctional APC administration”, it said.
PDP also entreated the President Buhari to show example by patronizing a Nigerian public hospital on his next medical appointment so that he can experience the healthcare reality that Nigerians have been subjected to under his government.
The main opposition party further maintained thereby urging Nigerians to recall that under the PDP administration, new technologies and modern medical equipment were available in most federal medical institutions where cases such as cancer, kidney, heart and brain ailments for which Nigerians are now mostly seeking overseas treatment were effectively handled in the country.
“Our health care would have continued to flourish but for the disruption of PDP’s people-based healthcare programs by the Buhari-led APC administration.
“The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has now become the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of the corrupt cabal in the Buhari Presidency, which has not been able to account for the looting of billions of naira saved for healthcare needs of Nigerians”, the party said.
PDP accused the APC administration of neglecing the national health needs of Nigerians as reflected in successive budgetary allocations under President Buhari that there would have been no need for medical tourism.
It said, “Even in the 2020 budget, only N427.3bn (4.5% of the budget) is provided for the health need of over 186 million Nigerians. Indeed, this is not the way to go”.
Stating how the dreaded Ebola outbreak was managed without grave consequences under PDP government, disclosed that “if such medical emergency, God forbid, breaks out today, it would be devastating to our nation given the poor handling of our healthcare system by the APC administration”.
It could be recalled that on Friday, January 3, President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerians should discontinue the trend of going abroad for medical treatment.
According to him, “Nigerians have suffered so much going abroad for medical treatment. This is not good for us and it must stop because we can’t afford it again.”
