The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has disclosed that over 10,000 Nigerian doctors are currently practising in the United Kingdom (UK). This was revealed by the National President of NMA, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, during the 2022 Physicians’ Week. According to him, Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK after India and Pakistan. It is also possible that the figure might be higher than stated considering the paucity of statistics in this part of the world.
The emigration of Nigerian doctors to the UK, United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and other countries in Europe will likely worsen the nation’s fragile health system. That is why the federal and state governments must enhance the welfare of Nigerian doctors and other workers in the health sector without further delay.
It is sad that the nation has lost thousands of its doctors and other health professionals on account of the recurring brain drain in the sector. As at 2021, it was estimated that about half of Nigeria’s 72,000 registered doctors were practising abroad. With the recent figure released by the NMA president, the number must have increased. Also, between December 2021 and May 2022, a total of 727 medical doctors trained in Nigeria relocated to the UK. In August 2021, over 500 Nigerian doctors turned up at a recruitment exercise organised by the Saudi Arabia health ministry in Abuja.
Similarly, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of the UK stated that the number of Nigerian nurses in that country increased by 68.4 per cent from 2,790 in March 2017 to 7,256 in March 2022. Medical experts are already worried that given the frightening exodus of Nigerian doctors to foreign countries, it will take Nigeria about 100 years to have the number of doctors needed by its citizens, even if no doctor leaves the country after training. The brain drain in the health sector is already having affecting the doctor-to-patient ratio in the country now put at 1:10,000 as against the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendation of 1:1,000.
Therefore, it is worrisome that the migration of skilful health professionals is happening when the country’s population is expanding exponentially. Many factors account for the migration of the health professionals to the UK and other parts of the world. These include poor working conditions, dearth of necessary medical equipment, inadequate work opportunities and high cost of living. The situation may also have been aggravated by stifling tax regimes and multiple deductions from salary, low work satisfaction and poor wages. The problem has been exacerbated by rising insecurity in the country, loss of hope in one’s country and the seeming bleak future for young graduates.
We call on the Federal Government to take the lead in coming up with new measures to halt the brain drain in the health sector urgently. It can do this by increasing the nation’s health budget substantially. With the annual health budget hovering between 5 and 7 percent, not much can be achieved in this direction. In the recent budget proposal by President Muhammadu Buhari, N1.17 trillion, representing 5.75 per cent, was allocated to the health sector out of the total of N20.5 trillion for the 2023 fiscal year. The proposed budget shows a significant increase from the N826.9 billion allocated to the sector in 2022 and the N547 billion allocated in 2021.
It also marked an improvement in the previous budgets. Although the 5.75 per cent allocated to health sector in the proposed budget is an increase from the 4.7 per cent allocated in 2022, Nigeria falls short of meeting the commitment made by African leaders under the 2001 Abuja Declaration to allocate at least 15 per cent of their annual spending to health. While countries like Rwanda and South Africa have met the commitment by allocating at least 15 per cent of their total budgets to health, Nigeria is yet to do so.
The earlier the government revitalises the sector, the better for the country. It is unfortunate that Nigerians rank among the highest number of foreign doctors in the UK. Considering the enormous resources deployed in training them, the trend needs to be reversed.