Buhari’s Health, Medical Tourism And National Security

President Muhammadu Buhari, arguably the most powerful president in Africa, given Nigeria’s population and global clout, has in the past four weeks and counting, been in the United Kingdom where he went on vacation cum medical examination.

That the president of Nigeria is examined by foreign doctors and his health records known by them despite doctors/patients confidentiality should be considered a national security issue that should be avoided with no expense spared to provide world class medical facilities for the president in Nigeria and indeed for all Nigerians.

Could you imagine what gift it would be to the Russian intelligence agency, the KGB, if President Donald Trump is to submit himself to a Russian Hospital and examined by Russian doctors. We may deceive ourselves that the United Kingdom, being our former colonial masters are our friends, as such would not take advantage of its information on Nigerian leaders and undermine our national security.

Electronic Frontier Foundation in the United States, in an article entitled, “National Security and Medical Information”, exposed how United States Intelligence agencies including the FBI, CIA, etc are entitled to obtain health records of individuals despite doctor/patient confidentiality under the guise of national security.

“The government has many options for obtaining your medical records on the grounds of national security. And if your medical records are swept up in a national security investigation, you likely won't be asked to consent and potentially won't ever know your medical records were accessed.

“The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule  that went into effect in 2003 included a national security exception  that permits doctors, hospitals, and any other “covered” to disclose individual health information "to authorized federal officials for the conduct of lawful intelligence, counter-intelligence, and other national security activities authorized by the National Security Act." This exception overrides the normal requirement that your authorization is needed before your medical information can be disclosed for anything other than your treatment, bill payment, or your health care provider’s business operations.

“This national security exception appears to allow covered entities to disclose health records, at their own discretion, to any federal agency that plays a role in intelligence, counter-intelligence, and national security activities. This includes but isn't limited to the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA. For example, a hospital could disclose any or all of the patient medical records in its possession to the NSA on the hospital’s own initiative, and could even allow the NSA or other federal agencies to access the hospital’s health record system on a permanent, ongoing basis. This could be done without a court order, without any procedural or substantive protections or barriers, and even without any request from the agency.”

Read: https://www.eff.org/issues/national-security-and-medical-information

Make no mistake about it, Nigeria is a major power in the continent and the country has been touted as the most qualified African country that should get a Permanent Seat at the United Nations Security Council, where it would rub shoulders with the likes of United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. Note that it is not a fait accompli that the permanent security council seat for Africa, if approved under the reform being advocated by developing nations at the UN, would be handed to Nigeria. Africa’s largest economy, South Africa has also been tipped for the position. South Africa is already a permanent member of the G20 most industries nations of the world.

Therefore, when a president of Nigeria routinely go on medical tourism abroad, his health record which also embodies the health of the country is bound to leak one way or the other and enter the ‘wrong hands.’ This is more so because our leaders are not ready to reveal their health records or what is ailing them. The situation is not helped by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which made it clear that the health record of public officials cannot be made public except by the person involved. That was why Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said recently that it was only President Buhari that can make his health status public. While the president may not be willing to make his health record available to Nigerians, his records may be obtained by foreign entities that can use it to blackmail him, thereby endangering national security.

Let’s be clear about this. It is not only the president that poses national security risk when he goes abroad for treatment. It includes all other public officials that are the face of Nigeria in its engagement with the world.

My prayer is that the president when he gets back would do everything possible to put necessary medical facilities in place in the country to stop medical tourism and endangering national security. What is the equipment that they have in the UK that the Federal Government of Nigeria cannot afford? What routine tests do they conduct in UK that cannot be done in Nigeria? What medical personnel do they have in UK, that Nigeria does not have? The president should provide answers to all these questions.