Long years of decay in health sector and governments' failure to improve on health facilities and services are some of the reasons encouraging medical tourism abroad, Martin Okonkwo, Chief Executive Officer of Martreach Global Healthcare Service, has said.

He said in Abuja that these factors have "practically made it impossible for Nigerians to stop travelling abroad for treatment." Okonkwo, who has been linking Nigerian patients with hospitals in Germany and UK since 1997, suggested that if Nigeria honestly wanted to fix the health system through public-private partnerships, it must stop giving contracts in health sector to unqualified contractors.