Prof. Aminu Muhammad, the President of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, has stated that it would take Nigeria 10 years to replace the 500 doctors who recently left Nigeria in search of greener pastures.
Muhammad made the remark while speaking on Sunday against the backdrop of findings by the association from 50 out of 80 chapters, which confirmed that no fewer than 500 medical personnel including doctors have left the shores of Nigeria for the outside world.
The president, who was answering questions from journalists shortly after reading the communiqué of the association’s biennial delegate meeting in Kano, noted that the worrisome departure of specialists out of the country painted a bleak future for the country’s health sector.
He emphasized that, according to statistics, more than 500 medical doctors had left the country in pursuit of greener pastures elsewhere.
According to him, Nigeria has continued to create the best clinical experts, doctors, graduates, and postgraduates students in Sub-Saharan Africa, who are currently smashing world records.
The communiqué reads, “Medical education is under threat, mainly due to the largest number of specialists and trainers migrating to other climes.”
“The challenges of brain drain in the health sector have remained unabated with the migration of highly skilled health care professionals not only out of Africa but also to neighbouring West Africa.”
The communiqué called for collaboration among teaching hospitals, universities, and regulatory authorities, which has contributed to the inability to maximize the potential for improving medical student quality.
Similarly, the statement encouraged the government to mobilize all stakeholders in order to overhaul Nigeria’s healthcare system by ensuring inexpensive and accessible healthcare delivery in the country.
The government is urged to, as a matter of urgency, provide holistic solutions to the challenges of brain drain, which should include an incentive that encourages retaliation against the already depleted health care human resources in Nigeria,” the communiqué stated.
