Medical practitioners in Nigeria have called for an improvement in the health sector following the recent surge in migration by Nigerian doctors to other countries.
According to a new study released by the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the official registry of United Kingdom physicians, 1,616 medical professionals with training from Nigeria have relocated to the United Kingdom (UK) in the last year.
Speaking to RoyalFM, Dr. Fabiyi revealed that the search for a better quality lifestyle is the main driving force behind the recent emigration. “I think that there are a lot of reasons for moving from one country to the other and as much as we want to think about the negative impact of the issue, one needs to be exposed to other crimes where medicine is practiced. But the peculiar situation in our country, I think it’s disheartening and it’s causing the migration to other nations, not just to the United Kingdom but other nations of the world where the search for greener pastures is concerned.”
“The practice in the country is also a major reason where immigration is concerned. Not so many people can boast of a quality lifestyle as a doctor in the nation [concerning] the welfare and the equipment and the wellbeing of the citizens concerned. A search for greener pastures is one of the main reasons why people get to move from Nigeria to other parts of the world.”
Dr. Owolabi said the health facilities of these countries are better when compared to Nigeria’s.
“The cause of migrating from Nigeria to abroad is because of better conditions of service in terms of salary. Another thing is working conditions for Nigerian hospitals, you can’t compare it with foreign countries where you have better equipment to work with, better conditions of service, better conditions of working environments, talking about good beds, equipment to use, easy access to facilities, internet and all of that.”
The doctors called on the government to improve the nation’s health sector, firstly calling for better health equipment. Dr. Lawal affirmed that there are many ways the sector can be improved. To stop doctors from traveling, you have to improve our health sector in so many ways. The government has to do better. If you go to the General Hospital, they don’t have enough equipment. And all our leaders and consultants are traveling abroad. They see a better opportunity to live a better life.”
Dr. Owolabi stated that there is more pressure on those still in the country, “When experienced professionals leave a system and go somewhere else, of course, they’re bettering those economies and those systems, and of course worsening our system here. Our system here is getting worse. We’re losing good hands. We’re putting pressure, burden on the few ones left behind.”
It would be recalled that the Federal Government recently approved the recruitment of two hundred medical and clinical staff at the Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta, Ogun State to ease the burden following the recent departures, however, the doctors believe the cycle is not the best for the future of the nation’s health sector.
“It’s a temporary blessing in disguise. While those people are leaving, they will fill some of the vacant positions. You’re filling up not with experience, you’re filling with young doctors who are still not experienced coming to build experience there. And it’s temporary because even then when it gets to a point, they start thinking of traveling out again.”
Join our twitter community :