The Nigeria Medical Association(NMA) says brain drain and medical tourism are the twin evils in the Nigerian health sector.
This was the consensus at the maiden edition of the NMA Annual Lecture Series, held in Abuja.
The President of the Nigeria Medical Association Prof. Innocent Ujah, said that the lecture series will be the beginning of many innovations and creativities that will come to the administration of the medical profession and the foremost professional Association in Nigeria.
” The Annual Lecture Series of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was an idea that is translated into reality today, through the fire of a vision, inexhaustible determination to achieve and the commitment of an innovative and IMPACT team that will situate our Association which has a growing desire to contribute to the nation’s growth and development, particularly on the health-related issues.
“The Annual Lecture Series, the first of its kind in the history of Nigerian Medical Association, is an event intended to provide a platform where members and experts in various disciplines could brainstorm on burning health-related and other contemporary national issues towards influencing policies and practice, particularly as it relates to healthcare quality improvement for better health outcomes.
“As the issue of health concerns every one of us, our goal is to move beyond the boundaries of just medical professionals and create an opportunity for a wider audience including the members of the public, policymakers, politicians and other stakeholders to participate and make contributions on the best ways and means for building a strong and sustainable health system in Nigeria and indeed the west African sub-region“. Prof Ujah said
He said that Africa and particularly Nigeria are faced with a disturbing shortage of their health workforce.
“According to the World Health Organization (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: 4000-5000 which falls far short of the WHO recommended doctor-to-population ratio of 1:600. Nigeria is still grappling with disturbingly poor health indices. The Nigerian health sector today groans under the devastating impact of huge human capital flight which now manifests as brain drain”. He said.
The NMA President noted that the burning desire of NMA to proactively confront the many challenges of healthcare delivery in Nigeria must be sustained using evidence-base for constructive engagement, high-level advocacy and understanding to achieve quality healthcare for the people so as to reduce the unacceptably high morbidity and mortality.
“This national discourse on brain drain and medical tourism is therefore, inevitable at this time and it is only right, just and appropriate for Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to take the lead, being the leader of the health Team. Another issue that poses a great challenge to our health system is the problem of medical tourism. Nigerians are said to spend over USD1 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”. He stressed.
The Nigerian minister of state for health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora, in his goodwill message commended the NMA for the lecture series.
He said that the series would bring up pragmatic approach to the challenges facing the health sector.
“The easiest thing you do is start a project, sustaining that project is another thing. May the annual NMA Lecture series not suffer neonatal death, may it not suffer adolescent death and on and on. So, that sometimes in the future, we will celebrate anniversaries of this series. So, we need to sustain it. The health system of a country can not be what it is without fixing the political system“. Dr. Mamora said.
He said that the current administration has put measures in place to combat brain drain and convert it to brain gain.
Former Nigerian minister of health Dr Isaac Adewole, in his message said that it was time the Nigerian government tackled brain drain as it was affecting the economy.
The Guest Lecturer, Prof. Oyewole Tomori, blamed medical tourism and brain drain on poor leadership and maladministration.
He said that the political class has refused to fix the health sector because they hardly use Nigerian hospitals.
He said “Brain drain worsens the already depleted healthcare resources in developing countries like Nigeria and widens the gap in health inequities worldwide”.
The topic of the maiden Lecture Series of Nigerian Medical Association which is on Brain Drain and Medical Tourism: the twin evil in the Health System in Nigeria.
The topic was chosen in response to the very serious and huge number of immigrations of Nigerian Medical Doctors and other workers to other countries of the world in search of better work environment, safety and security for themselves and their families.
Dignitaries at the lecture series agreed that there was the need to urgently stop medical tourism and brain drain in the Nigerian health sector.
