An alarm has been raised by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) over the consequences of brain drain in the nation’s health institutions, saying some departments in the teaching hospitals are shutting down due to the high rate of brain drain (Japa).
Newly-elected President of the association, Prof. Muhammad Muhammad who disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the end of MDCAN’s 13th Biennial Delegates meeting and scientific conference in Kano, lamented that no fewer than 500 specialist doctors with specialty in teaching had migrated.
According to Prof. Muhammad, “The survey we conducted some two years ago shows that, about 500 specialist doctors have left Nigeria.
“These are apex of the profession. They are the ones that are involved in teaching and nurturing of new generation doctors from both medical schools and training specialist in Nigeria.
“With the alarming rate of migration (‘Japa’), some departments are closing or left with one or two doctors who render services that were supposed to be rendered by 10 of them.
“It will take the country almost 10 years to replace the number by the rate at which we are producing. You can see that it is in alarming proportion. And after that, it has only gotten worse.
“The challenges of brain drain in the health sector have remained unabated with migration of highly skilled health care professionals not only out of Africa but also to the neighbouring West African countries.
“The Government is urged to as a matter of urgency; provide holistic solutions to the challenges of brain drain, which should include incentives that encourage retention of the already depleted health care human resource in Nigeria.
“If there is no improvement in current condition in terms of infrastructure, working condition and security, it will be difficult to prevent people from moving out (‘Japa’).
“Medical Education is under threat, mainly due to the large numbers of specialists and trainers migrating to other climes.
“A number of universities presently has less training quota than the manpower and infrastructure in the institution can effectively train.
“Concerted efforts should be made by the Governments to motivate its available human resources for health in order to sustain and improve on the quality of undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainings in Nigeria.”
400,000 healthcare workforce not enough in Nigeria – Pate
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, says that about 400,000 healthcare workforce in Nigeria is insufficient to cater to the healthcare needs of Nigerians.
According to Pate, the 400,000 workforce comprises community health workers, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, physicians, lab scientists, technicians, and auxiliaries working in the Nigerian healthcare system.
“They are not enough if you think that this number can take care of 220 million people. Our doctor-to-population ratio is lower than what the World Health Organisation expects.
“So there’s still room to produce more. In fact, to produce excess because globally, there’s a shortage of health manpower, there is almost a shortage of 18 million people.
“In developed countries where they are aging, they are retiring so they need more people to provide services.
“So if we think about it, we can produce for our own needs and if some leave then they go and earn resources and they come back with some experience,” he said.
Pate, however, said that if infrastructure was improved, and people were treated with respect, some of them would come back to serve the country.
“So I don’t want to undervalue the contribution of the workers that we have.
“We have to acknowledge them, celebrate them, make life easier for them even as we train more or re-train the ones that we have even as we work to resolve their issues.
“We really value the Nigerian health workforce and will continue to support and develop that going forward,” he added.
Speaking on ending medical tourism, Pate said that the trend was present in almost all countries whether developed or developing as people leave the U.S. to East Asia to have surgical procedures because it is more affordable there.
