Ghana and Turkey have set their sights on Nigeria’s lucrative $1bn medical tourism market, each with a unique proposition to entice Nigerians seeking curative and preventive medical treatments. Both countries are promoting modern healthcare facilities, advanced technology, and a cadre of highly skilled specialists to capture a share of this burgeoning industry.
According to the Nigerian BusinessDay newspaper, hospitals in Ghana, encompassing both private and public institutions, are actively courting Nigerian patients, encouraging them to consider Ghana as their destination for healthcare services. Their objective is to divert the substantial capital currently flowing out of Nigeria for medical tourism to the West African sub-region while simultaneously expanding their own scale and capabilities.
Conversely, Turkey is actively promoting a range of surgeries and medical procedures, delivered by qualified healthcare personnel, alongside state-of-the-art technology and medical supplies. Ankara, Turkey’s capital city, serves as a hub for medical tourism, aiming to attract Nigerians to experience a wide array of medical treatments.
This competition comes at a time when Nigeria is striving to reverse the trend of outbound medical tourism and regain the trust of high-end consumers in the local healthcare system.
During the second medical tourism expo held in conjunction with the 19th Akwaaba African Travel Market event in Lagos recently, several prominent Ghanaian hospitals took centre stage. The University of Ghana Medical Centre Limited, The Bank Hospital, Lucca Health, an American-based healthcare provider, and Bethel Dental Clinic were among the leading institutions showcasing their capabilities, BusinessDay reported.
Similarly, a coalition of hospitals, spearheaded by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, including Medipol Global International Health Services and the VM Medical Park, Ankara Hospital, exhibited their offerings to Nigerian visitors.
Koby Appiah-Sakyi, Chief Executive of The Bank Hospital in Accra, emphasised the significance of the Nigerian market, given its colossal population of approximately 214 million, more than half the size of the West African sub-region. He noted that numerous hospitals in Ghana already attract a significant influx of patients from Nigeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, and neighbouring countries.
To facilitate easier access for medical tourists, the African Medical Tourism Council was established earlier this year, addressing concerns raised by travellers regarding the journey to their chosen healthcare destinations.
Appiah-Sakyi emphasised the importance of retaining medical spending within the sub-region. ‘The reason we need to do this is to expand the scale within the sub-region. If you come and you are operated, the scale stays within the sub-region and it helps us in training our medical students. In 2000, Ghana built the first cardiothoracic centre in the sub-region, which has trained over 100 surgeons, a lot of them Nigerians,’ he told BusinessDay.
Appiah-Sakyi, with 18 years of experience in the United Kingdom and seven years in Qatar, returned to Ghana to establish his practice. He highlighted the modernisation of Ghana’s medical facilities over the past 15 years, with many professionals returning from abroad to establish high-standard facilities.
Medical tourism in Ghana primarily centres around cosmetic procedures, dentistry, interventional cardiology, IVF, breast surgery, and gynaecology. In contrast, Turkey’s medical tourism is driven by services such as hair transplantation, dental procedures, plastic surgery, orthopaedic surgery, and infertility treatment, often at cost-effective rates.
Tamer Hotomaroglu, General Secretary of the International Health Tourism Association, emphasised the paramount importance of ensuring the safety of medical tourists in Turkey. He cited Turkey’s reputation as one of the safest destinations for medical procedures, underscoring that the current president of the World Organ Transplant Association hails from Turkey.
