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The Nigerian Resident Doctors Association has said that six out of 10 doctors in the country plan to leave the country for greener pastures
This was revealed by the fact that there are only 12,297 resident doctors in the federal and state tertiary health institutions in the country.
NARD President Dr. Dare Ishaya revealed this on Monday saying “As of the last time we issued the questionnaire, we found that out of 10 medical residents, six of them planned or intend to leave.
“ The statistics we had then were in December 2021. So, either they plan to leave or they have thought of leaving. ” Identifying the reasons behind the development, Ishaya said: “As we speak, I am aware that many of my colleagues are working to leave the country, and there are many factors responsible for that.
The push factor is mainly the economy. “Of course you will agree with me that we are having inflation in the country and the rate at which our naira is devaluing is alarming. If you compare our pay to the pay where most of these healthcare workers go, you’ll find that what we make here isn’t even a tenth of what they practice
“As long as these factors exist, our members and other health workers will continue to search for greener pastures, except if steps are taken to reverse them ”.
Ishaya added that there are currently only 9297 doctors residing in the FTHI and there are between 2000 and 3000 doctors residing in the STHI.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Medical Association said the brain drain being witnessed in the country will worsen if doctors leave the country.
NMA President Dr. Uche Ojinmah, in an interview with our correspondent, also said: “ From 1960 until today, the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council has registered around 80,000 doctors in Nigeria, and some have come to practice in Nigeria.
You will know that from 1960 to date, some have died, some no longer exercise, some are disabled, some have joined the policy and a reasonable number of around 20,000 to 25,000 are practicing outside the country.
“ So, according to the last analysis we had, we had between 20,000 and 25,000 doctors in Nigeria and this number is supposed to serve 200 million people.
“ So we have a ratio of one doctor to between 4000 and 5000 patients. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization recommended a doctor for 600 patients?
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