“Away on Medical Vacation”; “Flown Abroad For Treatment”; “Goes for Routine Checkups” make headline news on many national dailies of African countries. They are an open invitation to the tales of the overseas medical trips of the African political elite, especially the Presidents. These trips very often draw more public attention and heated opinion across the continent. They are greatly perceived to be unjustifiable. Local healthcare systems- underfunded and neglected- are being bypassed.
My interest in these foreign medical travels dates back to July, 1999. One morning, I heard over the radio that Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff had been flown abroad for the treatment of malaria. I was perplexed at the news - Why was he treated abroad, and not in Nigeria? Though he fully recovered soon after, the question still stuck with me and more often reechoed in recent years with frequently reported foreign medical trips of the African political elite. On the invitation of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) in October, 2025, I took the opportunity to speak on this important topic: Why Do African Presidents Travel Abroad for Medical Care? As a medical geographer, I shared some preliminary findings on the possible connection between these foreign medical trips and the geography of global health. On this premise, I critically examined how the geography of these medical journeys of the African political elite- with ten African Presidents as a case study- reflect inequalities in global health between the global north and the global south. Drawing on some aspects of the Push-Pull factors of Migration, Core-Periphery model and the Postcolonial theory, I mapped the travel patterns of ten African presidents from 2000 to 2025. The resultant map first showed that none of these ten sought medical care at home – anywhere in Africa. Europe was their main destination, particularly Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland together with a few trips to the United States of America, Singapore, Saudi Arabia.
Why They Often Travel Abroad
One often wonders what drives them away from home and lures them abroad. The motivations for these many state-funded journeys are varied and classified into two broad categories, namely push and pull factors. The push factors, the circumstances that would drive them to seek healthcare elsewhere, include poorly financed national healthcare systems/cycle of neglect, brain drain, low trust healthcare institutions and secrecy, while the pull factors indicate the attractions of the destination, which are superior medical care, advanced technology and expertise, and discretion/privacy. Together, these push and pull factors work to create and sustain these cycles of medical tourism among the African political elite. However, there are exceptions to the trend, such as President Magufuli of Tanzania and Buhari’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. They both demonstrated trust at home. Their examples must be amplified.
An Uneven Geography of Global Health
The research presents a clear spatial pattern in the medical travel of African presidents, reflecting both the geography of global healthcare with emphasis on the uneven distribution of advanced medical facilities. It highlights Europe as the core in the global healthcare landscape as the preferred provider and site of medical treatment, while African countries constitute the periphery heavily relying on the medical expertise, and specialized care.
Generally, the Europe bound journey strongly suggests a postcolonial influence on the choice of the destination for medical treatment. Moreover, the colonial past in some ways reinforces an unequal relation between the core and periphery in which the former colonial powers and other Western countries remain sites for specialized and confidential treatment, and the former colonies or some African countries as dependants. For instance, Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari and Zambia’s Michael Sata in London, United Kingdom while Benin’s Patrice Talon and Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Paris, France are strong examples of the postcolonial undercurrent. To support this claim, President Buhari’s spokesman famously said “his doctors are based in the UK”, and added that he had paid allegiance to them since 1978. This clearly reinforces the dependence of Africa’s political elite on the global north’s medical personnel and infrastructure and further strengthening the uneven geography of global health.
Let’s Stay Back and Rebuild
The best medical care for the African political elite, in this case, is abroad and sadly not at home. However, Africa is already blessed with centres of medical excellence. We could retain healthcare expenditure within Africa and build the public’ trust in local hospitals more. The examples of the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives merging well developed domestic healthcare with selective foreign specialized care treatment can inspire many African countries.
A practical solution would be a Pan-African Medical Travel Accord (PAMTA). This continental arrangement would facilitate cross border patient mobility across Africa for specific therapies unavailable in home countries. This would democratize the access to specialized care within the continent, reduce reliance on foreign hospitals, and restore public confidence in national healthcare.
This would be possible if there are better conditions of service and professional development opportunities for medical personnel, increased funding for healthcare provision and medical research, and mostly importantly, the political will to restructure and sustain Africa’s medical care. This pragmatically aligns with AU Agenda 2063, highlighting the great potential of African solutions.
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Dr Tolulope Osayomi is a Visiting Fellow through the International Engagement Scheme, MT 2025
