FCT Minister Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has said that Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) plans to develop an all-inclusive medical city in Abuja.
While adding that efforts were also underway to make Abuja a center for medical excellence to mitigate medical tourism abroad.
According to him, this would feature world-class lodgings for international doctors, patients, relationships and tourists, who require only short walks to get to the medical centers in the medical city.
This indication was expressed by Bello when members of his FCT Chair, Dr. Celestine Unie, received the FCTA courtesy visit by the Nigerian Urological Surgeons Association.
In the words of the Minister, “Usually, as a city, we try to encourage these gatherings. Actually, we are trying to position the city of Abuja as a conference centre and gradually, we are also trying to encourage it to be a centre of medical excellence so that we can really stem the tide of medical tourism”.
“Already under construction, which I can share with you are very important centres of medical excellence. For instance, the Afreximbank, which is a multilateral financial institution headquartered in Cairo Egypt, for which Nigeria is a major shareholder, is already constructing a 500-bed multifaceted facility to be managed by one of the international medical groups, the Minister” added
He equally use the medium to pledged the support of the FCT Administration for the activities of medical professionals towards the development of the Territory’s health sector while stating that stakeholders in the Abuja project are being encouraged to join hands with the Administration towards making the FCT a Centre of Medical Excellence.
Commending the decision of the association to hold its Annual Medical Conference in Abuja, the Minister expressed satisfaction with the cordial relationship between the FCTA and medical professionals and the role the latter have played in the development of the FCT health sector.
The Minister said that the unique location of Abuja makes it the best choice for conferences and that the nation’s capital was gradually being recognised as a hub for conference tourism in Africa.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Dr. Celestine Undie, had solicited the support of the FCTA towards the success of the association’s Annual Conference scheduled to hold in Abuja.
He said the conference will bring together urologists from across the country in the diaspora to share knowledge and ideas while complicated urological surgeries would be performed by the visiting surgeons during the period.
Also present at the meeting were: the Acting Secretary of the Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr. Mohammed Kawu, Head, Medical Services, Hospital Management Board, Dr. Osagie Osayande and other staff of the FCTA.
