The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) yesterday said Nigeria currently has a deficit of 315,426 medical doctors to cater for the health needs of the citizens.
The NMA noted that although the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that the ratio of doctor to patients in the country should be one doctor to 600 patients (1:600), but what currently obtains in Nigeria is one doctor to 5,000 patients (1:5,000).
Using the latest United Nations (UN) population data for Nigeria, which is pegged at 215,063,351, there are 43,013 doctors available to attend to all Nigerians, leaving a huge deficit of 315,426 medical doctors.
The NMA attributed the low number of doctors to massive brain drain, saying between 2016 and 2018, not less than 9,000 doctors left Nigeria for better work environment, safety and security in three countries – the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and the United States of America (U.S.A).
Speaking during the association’s annual lecture with the theme: “Brain Drain and Medical Tourism: The Twin Evil in the Health System in Nigeria,” NMA President, Prof. Innocent Ujah, urged all stakeholders, including the government, the private sector, to come up with lasting solutions and actions to arrest the menace.
He said: “We all should know that human resources for health, which represents one of the six pillars of a strong and efficient health system, is very critical to the improvement of health quality for our health system. Unfortunately, Africa and our country, Nigeria, are faced with a disturbing shortage of their health work force.
“According to WHO, sub-Saharan Africa has about 3 per cent of the world’s health workers while it accounts for 24 per cent of the global burden of disease. Nigeria has a doctor-to-population ratio of about 1:4,000-5,000, which falls far short of the WHO-recommended doctor-to-population ratio of 1:600. Nigeria is still grappling with disturbingly poor health indices.
“Available records show that between 2016 and 2018, Nigeria lost over 9,000 medical doctors to the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America. The loss left Nigeria with only 4.7 per cent of its specialists to service the healthcare needs of the most populous black nation in the world. This does not paint the country in a good light at all.
“Another issue that poses a great challenge to our health system is the problem of medical tourism. Nigerians are said to spend over $1 billion annually on medical tourism, according to a Price Waterhouse Cooper’s report in 2016.”
“This represents a significant capital flight from the country which further weakens our economy with great consequences, such as reduced funding/investment in the health sector, widening infrastructural deficits and the growing distrust in the Nigerian health system by the Nigerian public.”
Health Minister Dr. Osagie Ehanire said President Muhammadu Buhari had put in place a health reform committee, which he described as a conscious understanding that something must be done to reverse and combat brain drain.
Represented by the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, he said: ”The health system cannot be what it should be without fixing the political system. We are not here trying to point fingers. What we are here to do is to find pragmatic solutions that will get us to where we want to go.”