Chairman, Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Dr Olusola Ibiyemi says in the last seven years, Nigeria has not been producing enough doctors to replace the ones lost to greener pastures due to the incessant strike by ASUU and NASU in the education sector.
Dr Ibiyemi, who spoke at a media briefing to mark the commencement of the association’s annual general meeting in Ibadan on Monday, said that this had further worsened the current exodus of highly skilled Nigerians, most especially doctors to greener pastures due to insecurity, inadequate funding, poor salary and unconducive working environment among other factors.
Ibiyemi, flanked by Dr Gbolahan Obajimi, Dr Oluseyi Akande, Mr Omobolaji Iyun, Dr Dare Olulana and other MDCAN executive members, at the briefing stated that Nigeria currently has a deficit of 315,426 medical doctors it requires to cater for the health needs of its teeming population.
He stated that the government’s refusal to pay health professionals the budgeted hazard allowance was also not helpful in boosting the morale of health workers to continue to want to offer their services in the country.
According to him, “Between 2021 and 2022, about 727 Nigerian doctors migrated to the UK, a country with over 9000 Nigerian doctors also working.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
“Last week, doctors in some institution like Federal Medical Centre, down tools to press home their request for government to address understaffing and its stress on provision of healthcare services.
“Currently at UCH, Ibadan, if you ask the resident doctors, they will tell you that they don’t know if the next person they are talking with is actually on his way to the airport to leave for another country to work.
“The Health Minister coming out to say that we have enough doctors and other healthcare workers is a political one; the exodus of doctors out of Nigeria is so high.
“One of our assignments as MDCAN is to provide training. When ASUU is on strike, it affects the teaching of medical students. And that is why we are joining our voice to that of well-meaning Nigerians to ask that the government should find an amicable solution to the stroke.
“We already have doctors moving out of the country, now we have a situation where we are not producing doctors to replace them; that is where we have found ourselves in the last 7 years.”
Dr Obajimi, MDCAN UCH branch’s vice chairman said the attrition of specialist doctors in the country is also low and other doctors also leave Nigeria under the excuse of wanting to have professional training abroad.
He added, “In my department, Obstetrics and gynaecology, we have about 11 senior registrars and almost all of them have applied for training as registrars in the UK. The issues are how do we mitigate this to keep Nigerian doctors in Nigeria. We certainly cannot influence people’s choices; anybody is free to live in any part of the world.”
and then