MDCN denies Signing Bilateral Agreement with UK Gov’t
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, (MDCN), has denied allegations that it signed a bilateral agreement aimed at restricting the emigration of Nigerian-trained doctors to the United Kingdom (UK).
A Twitter user @doctorisonu, had, in the early hours of Wednesday, tweeted that “The MDCN visited the General Medical Council (GMC) office in Manchester UK” and that “There was a bilateral agreement that all Nigerian-trained doctors must practice in Nigeria for at least 10 years before being qualified to live and work in the UK.”
In a statement posted on its official twitter handle Wednesday night, MDCN confirmed its visit to the UK medical body but said it was for a different purpose, thereby disregarding the tweet circulating on social media.
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The agency said it had various discussions with the UK medical council including “the repatriation of some funds in line with global health initiatives from Nigerian doctors, who were trained with taxpayers’ funds.”
The statement reads in part; “We had a lot of useful discussions, amongst which is the possibility of the UK government to repatriate some funds in line with global health initiatives from Nigerian doctors who were trained with taxpayers’ funds.
“Discussion around stemming the tide of brain drain also took place.
“Therefore, the rumour about bilateral agreement that all Nigerian – trained doctors must practice in Nigeria for at least 10 years before being qualified to live and work in the UK or elsewhere is FALSE, uncalled for, mischievous and should be totally disregarded. However, no form of agreement was signed.”
