Cardiac care is the specialty where Nigeria’s published record is most specific — and most dated. This article sets out what the only published national audit shows, where the honest gaps in the record are, and how the corridor to India actually works for heart patients who weigh it. Whether an angioplasty, a bypass, or medical management is right for you is a question for the cardiologist who has seen your angiogram; what follows is infrastructure, logistics and money.
The published figures, in one table
| Published metric (paediatric cardiac audit, 2010–2014 data) | Figure | What it can and cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Centres surveyed nationwide | 48 (100% response) | The audit’s own coverage — not a census of every facility |
| Centres performing open-heart surgery | 6 of 48 (12.5%) | Where surgery capacity existed when measured; not today’s picture |
| Centres in the south-west zone | 20 of 48 (41.7%) | How unevenly capacity sits across the country |
| Open-heart centres in the south-west | 4 of the 6 | The same concentration, at the surgical tier |
| Cardiac catheterisation available / used in children | 6 centres / 3 centres | Diagnostic capacity is thinner still at the intervention step |
| Echocardiography available | 45 of 48 centres (93.8%) | The widest-available cardiac service — imaging, not intervention |
| Paediatric cardiologists | 33 for 87.7 million children | A workforce ratio the authors call far below the ideal |
| The audit’s own conclusion | Services “grossly inadequate and poorly distributed” | The professional literature’s language, not a facilitator’s |
What the audit shows — and what it cannot
The audit (Ekure et al., published 2017 in the Cardiovascular Journal of Africa) is the only published national count of its kind, and its numbers carry two honest limits. First, the data were collected between 2010 and 2014 — a decade and more before this article — and no newer national audit has been published that we could ground, so treat the figures as a baseline, not a snapshot of today. Second, it is a paediatric audit: adult cardiac surgery capacity has no comparable published national census, and we say so rather than extrapolate. What the audit does establish is the shape of the system — intervention concentrated in a small number of centres, heavily weighted to one zone, with diagnostic services far more widespread than surgical ones.
For an adult patient planning care, the practical read is different from the paediatric one: the published record simply does not quantify today’s adult capacity, so the honest inputs are your own case — the referral you hold, the centre you are referred to, what it can do and when. Our specialist-shortage article for Lagos and Abuja covers the verification steps any patient can take with any referral.
How the corridor to India works for heart patients
For patients who do weigh India, the grounded inputs are published. On cost, our India CABG ballparks article puts standard bypass at about ₹2.5–5.5 lakh (roughly $2,900–6,400) at tier-2 city private hospitals and ₹3.5–7.5 lakh (roughly $4,100–8,700) at metro hospitals, with valve-plus-bypass work higher — and our India vs Nigeria vs Kenya comparison sets those numbers beside the corridor realities. On logistics, the Nigeria–India corridor guide carries the specifics: an in-person sticker visa (the High Commission states there is no e-visa facility for Nigerian nationals), the referral and invitation letters sent to the mission, a three-month certified bank statement, connections through Addis Ababa, Doha, Dubai or Nairobi, and payment planning that needs to start early.
The step that needs none of that — no visa, no flight, no travel — is the independent read of your angiogram and notes from home. Our remote consultation ($50) and written second opinion ($150) exist for exactly that question: is the advised procedure the recognized approach for this case.
What Medtu Care’s fees are, and what they are not
Our fees: $50 for a remote consultation, $150 for a written independent second opinion, $1,000 for full journey coordination — each credited in full toward the next step, paid by you and never by a hospital. We are a facilitator, not a hospital and not a clinical authority: we do not perform surgery, we do not make clinical decisions, and we do not promise outcomes.
The fees page states the terms in full, including the crediting and refund rules.
Sources
- Audit of availability and distribution of paediatric cardiology services and facilities in Nigeria (Ekure et al. 2017, Cardiovascular Journal of Africa 28(1):54–59). Grounds every line of the table and the audit section: 48 centres surveyed (2010–2014), open-heart surgery in six (12.5%), south-west concentration (20 of 48 centres; four of six surgical centres), catheterisation in six centres used for children in three, echocardiography in 45, 33 paediatric cardiologists for 87.7 million children, and the “grossly inadequate and poorly distributed” conclusion. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- Heart Bypass (CABG) Cost in India: Tier-2 vs Metro Ballparks — Medtu Care. The India cost figures in the corridor section: standard CABG about ₹2.5–5.5 lakh (roughly $2,900–6,400) at tier-2 city private hospitals and ₹3.5–7.5 lakh (roughly $4,100–8,700) at metro private hospitals. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- Heart bypass: India vs Nigeria vs Kenya — Medtu Care. The corridor comparison framing in the corridor section. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- Medical Treatment in India from Nigeria: Costs, Visa, Trusted Process — Medtu Care. The corridor logistics: sticker visa, referral and invitation letters, bank statement, flight connections, fare ranges. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- Nigeria loses 4,600 doctors to UK in three years — Report (Punch Healthwise, 21 April 2026). Grounds the workforce-pressure context in the audit section: 4,691 Nigerian-trained doctors relocated to the UK between May 2023 and April 2026, per UK General Medical Council data. Accessed 5 October 2026.
- Medtu Care fees page. Grounds the closing fees section: $50 for a remote consultation, $150 for a written independent second opinion, $1,000 for full journey coordination, each credited in full toward the next step. Accessed 5 October 2026.