Nigerian Hospitals are Mortuaries for the masses – Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has charged Nigerians to use President’s Muhammadu Buhari’s medical vacation to demand adequate funding for public hospitals he described as ‘mortuaries for the masses’.

“The practice of allowing poor citizens to die of preventable diseases while top public officers and rich private citizens are allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment can no longer be justified,” he said at a lecture.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that Nigerians have a life expectancy of 52 years, though the World Health Organization puts it at 49.

According to a report Thursday in the Associated Press ‘Nigerian Leader Extends Sick Leave Abroad as Citizens Suffer’,  the Ministry of Health estimated that Nigeria paid about $1 billion for government officials traveling abroad for medical care in 2014, with ordinary Nigerians spending about $6.3 billion in 2015 for what is called medical tourism.