FG to facilitate return of Nigerian medical experts abroad

•Says $2b spent yearly on medical tourism unacceptable

Federal Government has said it is unacceptable and unsustainable that Nigeria spends over $2 billion out of its meagre foreign reserves on health tourism, stressing that it is in a hurry to reposition the health sector to bring it at par with what obtains in other countries.

Speaking at the induction of 396 foreign graduates of Medical Laboratory Science organised by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), yesterday, in Abuja, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, lamented that the exodus of health professionals in search of greener pastures had led to a significant shortage of personnel required for the growth of the health sector.

Based on recent data, the country has about 300,000 health professionals attending to the healthcare needs of over 200 million people, he said. He added that the number was grossly inadequate and puts enormous pressure on the available workforce.

Alausa noted that the induction of foreign graduates of Medical Laboratory Science is a crucial step in the efforts of government to ramp up the training and recruitment of competent, skilled, and versatile manpower for the health sector.

In his speech, the Registrar of the Council, Prof. Tosan Irhabor, noted that in its quest to deliver on its mandate, the council had to review the process of admitting into the profession those, who trained outside the country’s shores, adding that the review revealed gaps in training arising from cultural orientation, infrastructure, equipment, as well as processes to which those, who trained in-country were accustomed.

He noted that as a responsible regulator, MLSCN moved to bridge the gaps by introducing the re-training programme to familiarise those affected with the reality of the health laboratory system here.