On Sunday, the Federal Government revealed that 55,000 licensed physicians are currently practicing in the nation to care for the burgeoning patient population as a result of the migration of medical professionals to hospitals and clinics overseas.
It stated that around 17,000 doctors had been transferred and between 15,000 and 16,000 doctors had left the nation due to the Japa condition in the previous five years.
These were revealed by Prof. Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, during his appearance as a guest on Politics Today on Channels Television.
According to Pate, the brain drain phenomenon has taken the best talent out of the health sector. However, he also stated that the government is making every effort to encourage those who have made the decision to stay behind and support their country to grow the training programme.
An whole generation of young physicians, healthcare workers, tech entrepreneurs, and other professionals has left Nigeria in search of better opportunities elsewhere, a phenomenon known as “Japa” or brain drain.
However, the minister reaffirmed that just 55,000 of Nigeria’s 300,000 health personnel are doctors.
He declared, “Today, Nigeria employs roughly 300,000 health workers across all specialties. Physicians, nurses, midwives, chemists, laboratory scientists, and other professionals come to mind. We conducted an examination and found that there are between 85,000 and 90,000 Nigerian doctors on our database. They’re not all within the nation. A portion of them are diasporic, primarily in the US and the UK. However, the nation has 55,000 licenced physicians.
“In general, the problem with health professionals is their scarcity. They don’t have the right combination of skills. Is it not surprising that the majority of highly qualified medical professionals reside in Lagos, Abuja, and a few other cities? A significant distribution problem exists.
“There are around 7,600 doctors in total—4,700 or so in Abuja and 7,600 in Lagos. In Abuja, there are 14.7 doctors for per 10,000 people. It is possible for you to check these numbers. Although it is 2.2 by 10,000 on average, it is approximately 4.6 in Lagos.
“There are significant problems with distribution, and there are, of course, chances for those people who have had market training. Therefore, you need to approach it from a holistic standpoint. Not just physicians, but also other key players in the provision of healthcare. We are losing a lot of highly qualified doctors.
Going on, Pate underlined that Nigeria cannot afford to keep losing its brightest minds to industrialised nations since human resources are the lifeblood of any significant health industry.
But he acknowledged that the Japa syndrome is a worldwide occurrence that also affects nations like Pakistan and India.
He claims that in the last five years, the nation has lost almost 16,000 doctors due to brain drain.
Regarding the Japa you mentioned, it is not exclusive to Nigeria. It is a widespread occurrence. There is not enough in other nations. They want to be given more. It’s not limited to Nigeria. It is taking place in Africa, the Philippines, and India. We have lost between 15,000 and 16,000 in the past five years, and approximately 17,000 have been transferred. We’re barely getting by. Increasing their training will therefore make sense. The same is true for midwives and nurses—both groups are departing. To guarantee that those who remain are well taught, it is crucial to increase the scope of training.
But, as I was trying to suggest, there are thousands more people present. And even though we don’t value them, the chance to travel overseas persisted. I’ll explain with an example. The incredibly intelligent gentleman who oversees the intensive care unit at Lagos University Teaching Hospital. When I first saw him in December, he told me, “Four of my colleagues have left.” I questioned why he had stayed. “Look, this is my country,” he declared. I want to work in the health industry because those who choose to work there are naturally motivated. Not everyone enters there merely looking for work. They go because of their innate motivation, which we must acknowledge and capitalise on.
We’re starting to implement measures to broaden the scope of training and work environment. We’re also encouraging commissions and salaries to take specific actions that will make people feel more at home. However, even the more recent problem of working hours—especially for junior doctors—is being addressed.
We’re starting to implement measures to broaden the scope of training and work environment. We’re also encouraging commissions and salaries to take specific actions that will make people feel more at home. However, even the more recent problem of working hours—especially for junior doctors—is being addressed. This is due to the fact that the workload does not lessen when some of their coworkers depart and they stay at home. And so they put in a tonne of overtime. We have heard that. We are investigating ways to lessen that, and in collaboration with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, we are investigating ways to ensure that physicians are treated as important assets and do not burn out by providing some safeguards in accordance with the code of ethics and principles.