The presidents of Nigeria, Angola, Zimbabwe, Benin and Algeria all have something in common; an apparent lack of faith in the health systems at home.
The presidents of Nigeria, Angola, Zimbabwe, Benin and Algeria all have something in common; an apparent lack of faith in the health systems at home. In terms of time spent abroad getting medical help, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, 74, is the first among equals, but in the past year all these heads of state have travelled overseas for health reasons.
In many cases these presidents are leaving behind poorly funded health services, which most of their citizens have to rely on. In 2010, the average amount spent on health in African countries per person was $135 (£100) compared to $3,150 in high-income countries, the UN’s World Health Organization said. In Mugabe‘s Zimbabwe, for example, state-run hospitals and clinics often run out of basic medicines like painkillers and antibiotics, according to health watchdog Citizens Health Watch.
It says that the public health care system continues to deteriorate at alarming levels with lack of money being the main problem. As for Nigeria, the public health system is terrible because of poor funding, says BBC Abuja editor, Naziru Mikailu. A health insurance scheme for government workers and some private employees has given some people access to private medicine, but most people have to rely on government-funded services.
In both countries, good private healthcare is available to those with money but in some cases there is a feeling that things are better abroad. The Nigerian president has spent more than four months in London this year getting treatment for an undisclosed illness, causing considerable disquiet at home. Unlike one of his predecessors, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who went to Saudi Arabia to see a doctor, Mr Buhari did leave his deputy in charge, but this has not dampened the criticism.
On the part of Angola’s President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, the 74-year-old leader in the last 38 years, was recently in Spain for medical reasons. He in fact goes there for regular checkup and like his counterpart, Buhari, has refused to disclose what he goes to Spain to treat.
