Overseas Medical Treatment For Public Servants To End

A Bill is been passed to stop public servants from traveling abroad at the expense of the Federal Government for treatment of ailments which can be treated properly in Nigeria. This bill is to be presented to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, this year. President Goodluck Jonathan, is also billed to flag off a
stroke awareness campaign in Abuja, as part of measures to tackle the rising burden of stroke, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases in the country. The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the Federal Ministry of Health was already compiling a list of health facilities that could handle specific ailments that Nigerians often go abroad to treat. The Minister of Health said that the Bill would become effective this year. In his words,

"It is correct to say the Federal government will not sponsor any case that can be satisfactorily handled in Nigeria. We are still at the level of the top management committee of the health ministry. It is a long process, we do not want to send a half-baked memo to the FEC, so it has to be well thought out and we have to carry people along. It is not enough for the Minister of Health to ask the President-in-Council that we should no longer sponsor public servants for cases that can be handled in Nigeria. We should know where these cases can be handled here".