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Despite increasing number of eligible candidates seeking to study Medicine, only 20 per cent get admission in Nigerian schools. Besides, public and private universities in the country can only produce 5,000 doctors yearly to serve the country’s huge population.
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Immediate past president of National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Prof. Musa Borodo, gave the alarming statistics at the opening of the 13th Biennial Delegates’ Meeting and Scientific Conference of Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), yesterday, in Kano.
Borodo, who spoke on the challenges confronting medical education in Nigeria, posited that beside the defective curriculum begging for urgent review, “the country lacks the capacity to produce adequate manpower” for the healthcare system.
According to the professor of Medicine at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Nigeria is operating at one doctor to 5,000 patients, against the recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
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He challenged the Federal Government to take full responsibility for improving healthcare facilities and welfare of medical personnel to discourage brain drain. He also canvassed review of constitutional provisions to reschedule health on Concurrent List that would allow wide application of health policies.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate, said MDCAN has a pivotal role to change the poor state of healthcare system in the country. Although, the minister admitted the challenges in the sector, including the abysmal state of medical practice, which he said the present administration inherited, reminded that the government could not reverse the worsening system alone.
The minister insisted that despite the predicament, the commitment of MDCAN and that of the present administration would reverse the ugly trend and ensure a brighter future in the sector.
On the falling standard of medical education in Nigeria, Pate, who was represented by Prof. Abdulrahman Sheshe, challenged the senior medical doctors to dedicate their expertise towards improving both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in Nigeria.
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