President Muhammadu Buhari has lamented the human resources needs of Nigeria’s healthcare system, saying the mass exodus of doctors from Nigeria is real and worrisome.
The President stated this on Tuesday at the second National Health Summit organised by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Abuja with the theme: “Patient-Centred Care”
President Buhari, however, said the Federal government is interested in opening up conversations with medical practitioners with a view to addressing the situation.
This is even as NMA President, Dr. Francis Faduyile, stressed that the exit of doctors from Nigeria has is not all negative as the country’s economy and the people benefit from the activities and investments of Nigerian doctors practising abroad.
Therefore, the NMA advocated a balanced approach to tackling the problem.
Represented by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the President said: “Nigeria’s Health Human Resources needs are real. We have a situation where human resource experts, trained and skilled at great cost to the notion, (roughly estimated by the Nigeria Postgraduate Medical College at N70million per Fellow, are lost to our health system by migration to already Developed countries.
“Today, we are experiencing the migration of medical doctors to postures some may consider being greener. This is worrisome to stakeholders in the health sector and we welcome practical suggestions for finding solutions to this problem.
“The Federal government would like to open up a conversation with doctors and nurses, to study ways of retaining our skilled workforce, trained at great expense to the State, as determined by the Postgraduate Medical College.
