- South Africa’s minister of Health has criticised President Buhari and other African leaders who seek medical care away from the continent
- He said it was shameful for the leaders to leave the continent for medical care while most of their citizens are relegated to using substandard facilities at home
- The BBC listed Buhari has one of the African leaders guilty of seeking medical care away from the continent
Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of Health, on Monday, August 28 blamed African leaders who seek medical care away from the continent.
He said it was a shameful thing for African leaders to frequently seek medical care abroad while most of their citizens are relegated to using substandard facilities at home.
“I have said this before and I will say it again: We are the only continent that has its leaders seeking medical services outside the continent, outside our territory,” he said.
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“We must be ashamed of that. This is called health tourism. We must promote our own,” he added.
According to the BBC, several African leaders, including President Muhammadu Buhari, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Angolan leader Eduardo dos Santos, Benin’s Patrice Talon and Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika, have sought medical care outside the continent in recent months.
NAIJ.com had reported that Mike Ogrima, the president of the Nigeria Medical Association, said there are 250 TNC surgeon doctors all over Nigeria, capable of handling the health challenge President Buhari is being faced with.
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However, he noted that most hospitals in the country lacked basic equipment to carry out the treatment.
In the video below, motorists celebrate the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from a medical leave in London.