Doctors’ migration affecting Nigeria, says Obasanjo
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has again expressed worry over the effect of medical doctors migrating from Nigeria, describing it as alarming.
Speaking, yesterday, at the 44th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which was held at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, he asked governments at all levels to prioritise the welfare of health practitioners to reduce brain drain in the sector and enhance quality health care delivery.
Delivering his lecture on the themed “Evolving Roles of Doctors in Healthcare Management and Nation Building”, the former President, represented by the FMC’s Medical Director, Prof Adewale Musa-Olomu, lamented that the present economic crisis had contributed to health practitioners seeking greener pasture outside the country. Obasanjo said: “Resident doctors constitute the bedrock of whatever medical services any country is offering its citizens and Nigeria is not an exception.
“It is, therefore, very necessary for government at all levels to ensure that there are good welfare packages for doctors, without whom it will be impossible to render any meaningful service.
“The rate at which the Japa syndrome is affecting our health sector is alarming, as a lot of our sub-specialties are now under lock and key.”
We can’t operate in these offices again because the specialists have left the country.”
Governor Dapo Abiodun, represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, urged the doctors to protect the environment, pointing out that 30 per cent of environmental problems worldwide were caused by medical waste.
Speaking earlier, the President of the association, Dele Olaitan, argued that doctors were the backbone of the healthcare system, urging his colleagues to redouble their efforts by offering the highest standards of medical service to the patients.
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