Dangote urged to end medical tourism, calling for local drug production in Nigeria

The richest person and chairman in Africa from the dangote group, Aliko Dangote, had called for urgent actions to end Nigeria’s dependence on medical tourism and foreign medicines, urged national shifts towards strengthening local health care systems and drug manufacturing.

Speaking at the goalkeeper event organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Lagos on Wednesday, Dangote emphasized the need for rich Nigerians, along with ordinary citizens, to access quality health care in the country, without the need to fly abroad for treatment.

“All we need to do is make sure we stop this health tourism,” he said during a panel discussion. “We now have to enter into producing our own medicines. We need to ensure that when we are sick, we don’t have to travel abroad – everything.”

Dangote stressed that achieving this vision will require strong public-private partnerships, especially with major international actors such as the Bill Gates and The Gates Foundation. “We need to do a partnership with Bill,” he added, underlines the collaborative spirit needed to change the Nigerian health care landscape.

Also read: Bill Gates Urges the Nigerian Government to Prioritize Health Investment In the midst of increasing maternal death

Industrialist appoints an old collaboration between the Dangote Foundation and the Gates Foundation, which plays an important role in eradicating Polio in Nigeria. He also praised the initiative with them by increasing children’s nutrition and access to major health care throughout the country.

“We have seen what might happen when we work together,” he said. “Polio is no longer a threat in Nigeria and that is a big victory.”

Outside of health services, Dangote talks about how dangote groups work to reverse Nigerian status as an economy that depends on imports by making strategic investments in main sectors such as cement, fertilizer, and petroleum.

The goalkeeper, which was held in Nigeria for the first time, gathered global leaders, changes, and policy makers to evaluate progress in the objectives of Sustainable Development of the United Nations (SDG). This forum serves as a strong reminder that the global goal must be owned and implemented locally.

Also present was one of the founders of Microsoft and Generous Bill Gates, the Governor of the State of Lagos Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of the State Gombe Inuwa Yahaya, and other high-ranking officials from all continents.