The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called on the government to pay doctors internationally competitive salaries and improve their working conditions to reduce the number leaving the country.

NMA President, Prof Afekhide Ernest Omoti, made the call through the Lagos State Chairman, Prof Sharafadeen Kehinde Okunade, who read his address at Monday’s press briefing in Lagos for the 2026 Physicians’ Week, themed “Securing the future of medicine in Nigeria”.

Omoti said appeals to patriotism must be backed by decent pay, workplace safety and opportunities for doctors to build their careers in Nigeria.

“Patriotism should be supported by decent working conditions, professional dignity, security, competitive remuneration, opportunities for career development and a health system in which doctors can see a future for themselves and their families.”

He urged hospital chief executives to improve safety and working conditions in their institutions, while calling for policies that would encourage doctors to remain in the country.

The NMA president identified excessive workloads, inadequate infrastructure, insecurity, poor welfare and professional burnout as challenges threatening the medical profession.

He said retaining doctors also required opportunities for career development, alongside structured partnerships through which Nigerian doctors abroad could contribute expertise, investment and research to healthcare at home.

Addressing physicians’ wellbeing, Omoti called for an end to a workplace culture that treated exhaustion as evidence of commitment.

“But there is a dangerous misconception that being a good doctor means being an exhausted doctor. It does not.”

He urged doctors to prioritise regular medical checks, adequate rest and access to confidential professional and psychological support.

According to him, hospitals should create conditions that allow doctors to take leave and seek help without fear of being considered weak.

“A health system that saves everyone except its doctors is not sustainable.”

Omoti linked concerns about premature deaths among doctors to excessive working hours, occupational stress, unsafe workplaces, inadequate staffing, poor remuneration and delayed entitlements.

He said protecting doctors’ health should become a national priority, adding that their wellbeing formed part of patient safety and the effective running of hospitals.

The association also condemned threats, intimidation and assaults against healthcare workers.

Omoti said the NMA would engage government, hospital administrators, employers, security agencies and professional regulators on enforceable measures to protect doctors.

He called for adequate equipment, functional infrastructure and conditions of service that matched the responsibilities placed on medical practitioners.

On medical education, the NMA president urged institutions to prepare students for changes in healthcare delivery by strengthening training in digital health, artificial intelligence, data science and telemedicine.

He said future doctors would need skills in research, communication, leadership, cybersecurity and health economics alongside their clinical knowledge.

Omoti also called for investment in teaching hospitals, research and the welfare of medical teachers, while stressing the need to preserve training standards.

He said artificial intelligence offered opportunities to support diagnosis, research and medical education, but its use required safeguards for patient confidentiality, accountability and protection against discrimination.

He urged stakeholders to ensure that digital tools did not widen differences in access to healthcare between urban and rural communities.

“We must develop appropriate ethical and regulatory frameworks that protect patient confidentiality, ensure accountability and prevent discrimination.”

Speaking separately during a question-and-answer session, Okunade said the continued migration of doctors made it difficult to establish the exact number currently practising in Nigeria.

He explained that the number of doctors on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s register did not necessarily represent those working in the country, as some who had relocated abroad continued to renew their Nigerian practising licences.

Okunade said doctors were still resigning from their workplaces to leave the country, warning that migration would persist unless the government addressed insecurity, poor remuneration, inadequate working conditions and limited opportunities for career progression.

He said appeals to patriotism would achieve little without measures that allowed doctors to meet their financial obligations and support their families.

Responding to a question about access to emergency care, Okunade called for more investment in hospital infrastructure, including adequate bed spaces in emergency units.

He explained that limited capacity affected hospitals’ ability to admit patients, noting that an occupied bed could not simply be freed for another person seeking treatment.

However, he said expanding facilities must go alongside retaining the doctors needed to run them.

Okunade also linked pressure on healthcare services to staff shortages, saying the doctors who remained faced heavy workloads and exhaustion.

While stressing that doctors should treat patients properly, he said the government must address the working conditions that left medical personnel overstretched.