Amid the nation’s daunting health sector challenges, it is sad that over 16,000 Nigerian doctors have migrated to work in foreign countries, especially United Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and Canada. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, who disclosed this in Abuja, said these doctors left Nigeria in the past five to seven years in search of greener pastures abroad.
The exodus leaves Nigeria with just 55,000 doctors for a population of 220 million and has created a doctor-to-population ratio of 3.9 per 10,000, which is far below the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of 1:1,000. At the same time, it is disturbing that thousands of Nigerian nurses and midwives have equally left the country in search of better condition of service abroad. The mass exodus of our medical doctors and other health workers must be urgently addressed.
While speaking at the 7th annual capacity building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa in Abuja, with the theme, “Integrated healthcare regulation and leadership in building resilient health systems,” said such unbridled migration is largely fueled by the quest for better condition of service abroad, competitive remuneration, conducive work environment and sundry incentives. These incentives are virtually lacking at home. There is no doubt that lack of competitive wages in the health sector and neglect of health workers fuel migration of Nigerian health workers to other countries. The general insecurity in the country and the kidnap of some medical doctors had equally worsened the situation. The incessant industrial unrests in the sector have really not helped matters.
The exodus of Nigerian doctors to foreign countries is undermining the nation’s health care delivery system. In 2023, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) revealed that no fewer than 1,417 of its members were planning to leave for the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) before the end of the year. Between January and September 2023, over 900 doctors had left for Europe, according to NARD. Within the same period, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said that over 10,000 Nigeria-trained doctors were practising in the UK. The number of doctors that increasingly leaves for the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Europe and other parts of the world, makes the situation dicey.
The Federal Government must halt the exodus of Nigerian doctors to Europe, America and other countries. Let the government prioritise health funding by substantially raising the health budget. Analysis of the recent budget proposal by President Bola Tinubu indicated that N2.48trillion was allocated to healthcare, out of the total N49.74trillion proposal. This represents 4.99 per cent of the budget which is marginally better than the 4.87 per cent successive governments have allocated to the sector so far.
Even with the relative improvement, Nigeria falls short of proposed 15 per cent allocation to the health sector made by African leaders in 2001 in Abuja. 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. For Nigeria to achieve the universal health coverage, the health budget should be increased by all tiers of government.
It is unfortunate that Nigerians rank highest among foreign doctors in the UK, US and others. This is sad, given the resources expended in training them. The estimated cost of training a single doctor in Nigeria exceeds $21,000. The exodus of Nigerian doctors has deeply affected the country’s health system as it leaves many of the rural communities critically underserved.
Government should pay doctors and other health workers enhanced and competitive wages and allowances. The work environment should also be conducive. This is the only way to check the incessant migration of our doctors and nurses to foreign countries. The government must frontally address the brain drain in the health sector.
The hospitals must be adequately equipped. Let the government create an enabling environment for the doctors to stay and provide the much-needed medical services. Enhanced private sector participation can be encouraged in the sector to make it competitive and comparable with what happens abroad. Everything possible should be done to discourage the emigration of the healthcare professionals.