Poor salary, working condition reasons health workers leaving Nigeria in droves, says union

GOMBE, Nigeria September 2 (The Informant247) – Poor salaries and lack of a conducive working environment are forcing many health workers to leave Nigeria for other countries, Nigeria’s largest medical union, the Nigerian medical association (NMA) said Thursday.

Dr Uche Ojinmah, the Union’s President disclosed this during the opening ceremony of the 2022 National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union held in Gombe.

Ojinmah said doctors in Nigeria choose to leave the country for greener pastures because they are underpaid and lack the basic equipment and conducive environment to work.

He said this development has caused a shortage of manpower in the country’s health sector.

He further decried the underfunding of the healthcare facilities by the Nigerian government, decrying that the country is yet to implement the 2001 Abuja declaration that recommended the allocation of 15 per cent of the budget to the health sector.

“In 2001, all the heads of states in Africa gathered in Abuja and held a meeting on how to improve the health sector. And at the end, they had a declaration that 15 per cent of the annual budget of every nation should be dedicated to health care.

“Unfortunately, since that time, Nigeria, the country that hosted the meeting could not implement that declaration. So, it is obvious that they know what to do to make it better, but maybe for political reasons, they are not,” he decried.

He stressed the need for medical personnel to be well remunerated and provided with a conducive environment to practice their profession, “So as to reduce the massive brain drain that has hit the medical profession.”

There are enough doctors in Nigeria – Health minister

 Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, in August said there are enough medical doctors in the country, and the Government is working toward replacing any medical doctor who resigns and leaves the country.

He also said there was no embargo on the employment of doctors and other health personnel in the country.

“There is no embargo on employing doctors; where there is a need, we do. But, because there is a Civil Service regulation, there are processes before doctors are employed.

“We have heard complaints of doctors who are now leaving the system, but there are actually enough doctors in the system because we are producing up to 2,000 or 3,000 doctors every year in the country, and the number leaving is less than 1,000.

“It is just that the employment process needs to be smoothened,” he said.