The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has expressed concern about the threat to medical education in Nigeria due to the significant brain drain that has caused many health professionals, including doctors, to migrate in search of better opportunities abroad.
Prof. Muhammad Muhammad, the President of MDCAN, shared this concern during a briefing with journalists at the conclusion of the association’s 13th Biennial Delegates Meeting and Scientific Conference in Kano. He revealed that more than 500 doctors with expertise in teaching have left Nigeria due to brain drain.
This issue of brain drain among medical professionals has been a recurring challenge in Nigeria’s healthcare sector. It not only affects the healthcare workforce but also poses a threat to medical education and the quality of healthcare delivery in the country.
The MDCAN’s call for a lasting solution to address medical professionals’ migration underscores the need for comprehensive efforts to retain and motivate healthcare professionals, improve working conditions, and enhance the healthcare system in Nigeria. Addressing the brain drain is crucial to ensure the sustainability and development of the healthcare sector in the country.
“If there is no improvement in current conditions in terms of infrastructure, working conditions, and security, it will be difficult to prevent people from moving out (‘Japa’).
“Medical Education is under threat, mainly due to the large numbers of specialists and trainers migrating to other climes.
“Several universities presently have less training quota than the manpower and infrastructure in the institution can effectively train”, he lamented.
Also, he stated that some departments in teaching hospitals are shutting down as a result of the high rate of brain drain.
He said, “The survey we conducted some two years ago shows that about 500 specialist doctors have left Nigeria.
“These are the apex of the profession. They are the ones who are involved in teaching and nurturing new generation doctors from both medical schools and training specialists in Nigeria.
“With the alarming rate of migration (‘Japa’), some departments are closing or left with one or two doctors who render services that were supposed to be rendered by 10 of them.
Speaking further, he noted that it will take a long time to replace the alarming number of doctors who have migrated.
“It will take the country almost 10 years to replace the number by the rate at which we are producing. You can see that it is in alarming proportion. And after that, it has only gotten worse”, he said.
While noting that skilled healthcare professionals not only migrate out of Africa but also to neighboring African countries, he urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, provide a solution to the problem of brain drain in the nation’s health institutions.
“The challenges of brain drain in the health sector have remained unabated with the migration of highly skilled health care professionals not only out of Africa but also to the neighboring West African countries.
“The Government is urged to as a matter of urgency; provide holistic solutions to the challenges of brain drain, which should include incentives that encourage retention of the already depleted health care human resource in Nigeria.
“Concerted efforts should be made by the Governments to motivate its available human resources for health to sustain and improve on the quality of undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in Nigeria.”