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From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The brain drain currently affecting many professions in Nigeria has hit Radiography as no fewer than five Radiographers are said to be leaving the country every week for greener pasture abroad.
Radiographers are professionals who diagnose diseases using various modalities, including X-Ray and ultrasound devices in the hospitals, health centres and clinics.
The President of the Association of Radiographers of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Dlama said Nigeria requires about 50,000 Radiographers for effective coverage of the entire country, there are only about 2500 and it is from the meager number that many are jetting out of the country almost on daily basis.
Dlama, who painted the worrisome picture at the 53rd annual national conference and scientific workshop of Radiographers in Awka with the theme “Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence: the Inevitable Reality”said the unfortunate thing is that only nine universities in the country offer the course up to first degree level.
Dlama said: “We used to have about 2500 Radiographers in the country, but the number is depleting on daily basis as a result of brain drain. As the President of this association, every week I receive nothing less than five Radiographers leaving this country. We also notice that the larger number of Radiographers leaving Nigeria is from the South East”.
According to him, because of the shortage of Radiographers, the Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria bridges the gap with trained X-ray technicians whose practice is also regulated by the board.
He added: “The regulatory body monitors the practice of radiography in all hospitals and diagnostic centers to ensure that the standards are strictly adhered to.
“We have offices in the six geopolitical zones for effective monitoring of the practice of the profession in all public and private hospitals, as well as in the diagnostic centers. Based on the law, any hospital that does not have a Radiographer is not supposed to be licensed to operate.
“We call on the government to address the shortage of radiography workforce by investing in manpower development, procurement of state-of –the –art equipment , ensuring a budgetary provision for the training and retraining of Radiographers, so as to provide the required services for the progress and advancement of our health care system”.
He also called on government to make adequate budgetary allocation for the trainings and retaining of radiographers to provide the required service for progress and development of the nations healthcare system.
According to Dlama, radiographers are critical to the health sectors and must be accorded adequate attention and implored the radiographers to explore every available opportunity to improve their skills and competence in the field.
According to him, a radiographer should impart his skills and expertise for the benefit of the humanity and the society
On his opening remark , the chairman of the local organising committee Dr. D.C. Ugwuanyi commended the Anambra state for investing in the field of radiography.
According to him, the state has produced men and women who had exceled in the profession.
The weeklong conference featured the presentation of researched papers by experts in the field.
