Resident doctors say that about 12 of their colleagues leave Nigeria every week to practise overseas.
The president of the association, Michael Olarewaju, said that less than 40,000 registered doctors are currently practicing in the country of about 190 million population. Olarenwaju lamented that majority of Nigerians lack access to quality health care
The Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD-FCTA) Chapter, has said that about 12 doctors leave Nigeria on a weekly basis to practice overseas.
Michael Olarewaju, the president of the association at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, November 26, said that less than 40,000 registered doctors are currently practising in the country of about 190 million population.
He lamented that not only does the majority of Nigerians lack access to quality health care, over 88 per cent of doctors in the country desire .to leave for greener pastures overseas.
He cited poor pay, career advancement and insecurity as major reasons behind the mass exodus of doctors from Nigeria.
Olarewaju also noted that the work load of attending to a large number of patients per doctor was becoming unbearable, leading to situations where doctors were overstretched and unable to provide adequate care for patients in dire need of health services.
“Nigeria has about 80,000 doctors fully registered with the Medical and Dental Council, but less than 50 per cent of them currently practise in Nigeria, which has led to a precipitous decrease in the doctor-patient ratio and hence majority of Nigerians do not have access to quality healthcare, thus putting them at the mercy of substandard care from quacks.
“It has been estimated that at least 12 Nigerian doctors leave the shores of this country for greener pastures in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates on weekly basis.
“The NOI polls stated that 88 per cent of doctors currently practising in the country wishes to relocate from the country. This is an alarming tide because the country is losing a lot in human and financial resources to other countries,” he said.
The general secretary of the Association, Rowland Aigbovo, said the association believed the problem is solvable if priorities are set right.
He said that the harsh reality still remains that doctors were leaving the FCTA in droves and something must be done to end the trend.
It was previously reported that Professor Usman Ahmed, the provost of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Federal University, Dutse has said that Nigeria needs additional 155,000 doctors at the ratio of one doctor to 1000 people to achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), the UCH aims to ensure that all people have access to the needed services of sufficient quality without exposing persons (recipients) to financial hardship.
Ahmed who is also a professor of health sciences, University of Manchester, UK sai this on Tuesday, November 13, in Abuja that data from the federal ministry of health shows that Nigeria has 45,000 doctors registered and practicing in Nigeria with a ratio of one doctor to 4008 people.