The recent report that 2,000 medical workers leave the country annually for developed countries in search of greener pastures is disturbing. It has also underscored the extent of the brain drain in the nation’s health sector. The President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Francis Faduyile, stated this during the opening ceremony of the annual general conference/delegates meeting of the association in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
The NMA boss lamented that the politicians do not seem to be worried by the trend because they do not have the necessary statistics and facts on the matter. The current figures supplied by the NMA have further confirmed the brain drain in the nation’s health sector. This can explain why some Nigerians faulted the recent claim by the Labour and Productivity Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige, that Nigeria had enough medical doctors. Although the minister had clarified his position on the matter, the fact remains that the brain drain in the sector is real. In 2018, the British government revealed that 5,405 Nigerian-trained doctors and nurses were working with the British National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom.
It also stated that Nigerian medics constituted 3.9 per cent of the 137,000 foreign staff of 202 nationalities working alongside British doctors and nurses. The migration of Nigerian doctors to UK, United States, Canada, Australia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and South Africa has equally worsened the brain drain in the nation’s health sector.
The nation’s doctor/patient ratio put at 1:6,000 is against the World Health Orgnisation’s (WHO) recommended doctor/patient ratio of 1:600. Our doctor/patient ratio has, more than anything else, shown that we do not have ‘surplus’ doctors. The global health agency’s assertion that countries with low physician-patient ratio have worse disease outcomes and life expectancy is true of Nigeria.
According to NMA, less than 40,000 Nigerian doctors are practising in the country. Nigerian doctors emigrate abroad for better conditions of service and availability of medical equipment. The exodus of Nigerian doctors to Europe and America has contributed to the rising medical tourism in the country. It has now become fashionable for our politicians and affluent Nigerians to go abroad for medical treatment even for ailments that can be treated in the country.
The Federal Government should frontally address the worrisome brain drain by increasing the welfare of Nigerian doctors and other health workers. It should also tackle medical tourism by retaining our doctors and adequately equipping our health facilities. There is no way our health sector can fare well when over 2,000 health workers leave the country annually.
Let government revitalise our primary healthcare system and ensure that these health facilities are well-equipped. It should also pay adequate attention to the nation’s teaching hospitals and referral centres. The current annual budget for health put at 7 per cent or less is grossly inadequate. The government should increase the annual health budget to between 15 and 20 per cent in order to cater for the problems in the sector.
We should not always depend on donor countries and agencies for the prevention of child killer diseases. The appalling state of affairs in the sector should be halted. As President Muhammadu Buhari recently promised, we urge the government to urgently prioritise health and education.
We believe that this is the best way it can make progress and earn respect in the comity of nations. The fact remains that our medical doctors and indeed other health workers go abroad in search of enhanced welfare and not necessarily because we have enough to export.
No doubt, improving the working conditions of doctors and indeed all health workers will check the brain drain in the sector. This is perhaps the only way they can be retained in the country. Therefore, the government should wake up to this reality and work hard to change the depressing narrative.