Health sector brain drain hitting Nigeria hard, NMA tells FG

The Nigeria Medical Association says the scourge of brain drain is hitting the nation’s health sector hard, noting that the Federal government should take steps to stop it.

The NMA also urged the FG to provide doctors with the equipment and facilities needed to work.

The association said the nation’s health sector had deteriorated in healthcare delivery, adding that this was also fuelling brain drain.

The NMA President, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, disclosed this during an interview with PUNCH HealthWise, lamenting that the difficulties faced by Nigerian doctors had worsened in recent times.

Ojinmah said the country was still plagued with diseases such as COVID-19 and Lassa Fever and requires equipment to tackle them.

The NMA boss said, “The government should give us the necessary facilities and equipment to work with. So, when you tell people not to go out of Nigeria and be patriotic, you have to be reasonable. We are looking forward to curbing all these issues.

“The government has to provide equipment for the health sector. We have a lot of diseases like COVID-19, Lassa Fever, Ebola, and hemorrhagic fevers that are giving us problems and we need equipment to combat them”.

Lamenting the poor number of doctors who are actively practising in Nigeria, Ojinmah said the number was declining by the day.

“We know that by now at the rate of an average of about 2,000 to 3,000 doctors produced per year, we would be hitting almost 100,000 doctors. Is that enough for a population of over 200 million people? No, it is not.

“Out of this number that has been recorded from the conservative estimate based on reality, we do not have more than 30,000 doctors who are actively practising in Nigeria because the scourge of brain drain is hitting us hard within the last five years.

“The difficulties faced by Nigerian doctors as per remuneration, lack of job satisfaction due to lack of equipment, poor work environment, and insecurity have all become worse,” Ojinmah said.

The NMA president stressed that doctors need a conducive work environment to practice their profession.

He said, “People don’t understand that when your work environment is not conducive, it makes you leave quickly.

“The government needs to understand that doctors need to have conducive consulting rooms. We look forward to a better country.

“Until the private sector takes over the health sector, it is the government that we know. The government should consider the health of Nigerians. It is paramount."