The migration of healthcare professionals from developing countries like Nigeria to more developed countries is one of the most discussed issues today. The consequences of this development particularly in Nigeria have become of immense concern and calls for urgent government intervention.
The migration by health professionals is not particularly a recent development. In the early 1960s, it was reported that 27,000 professionals from Africa traveled to Western countries for what has been described as greener pastures. Similarly, a World Bank report in 2007 indicated that over 44 percent of African citizens who completed their studies abroad, especially those who earned doctoral degrees between 1986 and 1996, did not return to Africa.
However, recent statistics on the migration of healthcare professionals from Nigeria to developed countries are worrisome. For instance, the UK immigration report in 2022 put Nigerian healthcare professionals granted working visas in the UK in 2021 at thirteen thousand, six hundred and nine. Also, between December 2021 and May 2022, seven hundred and twenty-seven Nigerian-trained medical doctors relocated to the UK.
The United Kingdom is not the only destination for medical migration from Africa, Nigerian-trained healthcare professionals also migrate to Canada, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and other developed countries.
The reasons for this exodus of highly skilled healthcare professionals have been broadly classified into pull and push factors. The pull factors are the incentives and positive structures available in developed countries that offer better opportunities for healthcare professionals and their families. These include the prestige of foreign education, higher prospects for career development, better remuneration packages and working conditions, and improved quality of life.
The push factors are negative conditions and systems in developing countries that tend to force healthcare professionals to seek opportunities outside their country.
The deplorable working condition of healthcare professionals in Nigeria is a source of concern to healthcare service providers and their patients. The high level of economic inequity in the country contributes to pushing health workers to other countries. The push factors in Nigeria also include escalating security challenges and harsh economic conditions.
To tackle this menace of mass exodus of health personnel to other countries, the government must take urgent and deliberate steps through purposeful planning and actions.
The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the appointment of Professor Ali Pate as the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare point to the government’s commitment to addressing the issues that make Nigerian health professionals leave for other countries. Prof. Pate’s appointment was well applauded by health sector stakeholders due to his track record as a globally recognized medical professional.
On assumption of office, Professor Pate unveiled his four-point agenda to revive the sector. The minister pledged to improve governance in tertiary and teaching hospitals, with an emphasis on strengthening the regulatory capacity of institutions such as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC. He also pledged to focus on population health and ensure domestic manufacturing of drugs and inputs, including vaccines.
While promising that the ministry would be better positioned to tackle epidemics and pandemics, Prof Pate hinted at plans by the Nigerian government to address the multifaceted problems bedeviling the health sector in the country.
He explained that the current administration was working assiduously to reverse and significantly improve the health sector and encourage medical workers to be proud to work in Nigeria. The minister said deliberate policies and programs would be designed and implemented to address poor funding, brain drain, lack of facilities, obsolete equipment, and shortage of workers, especially in rural areas.
Prof. Pate joined other stakeholders like the Nigeria Medical Association to decry the rate of maternal mortality and child morbidity in Nigeria arising from poor facilities and the dearth of health professionals.
As part of efforts to reposition the health sector and discourage the migration of health workers from the country, the House of Representatives has commenced the process of amending the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act to make it compulsory for graduates in medical and dental fields to render services within Nigeria for five years before being granted full license to practice.
The Nigerian government under President Tinubu cannot afford to allow such cases of migration of critical health workers to continue at the detriment of Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system if Nigeria is to achieve the set targets on Universal Health Coverage by 2030.
