6,068 Nigerian Doctors Relocate To UK During Buhari’s Regime
According to The PUNCH, no less than 6,068 medical doctors have moved to the United Kingdom since the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), started in 2015.
According to data obtained from the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, the total number of Nigeria-trained doctors who migrated to the UK as of August 30, 2022, stood at 10,096.
Nigerian doctors who got medical qualifications in schools outside the country are not included in the data.
The data revealed that 233 Nigerian doctors passed the examination to practice in the UK in 2015.
The number increased to 279 in 2016, while the figure was 475 in 2017.
In 2018, the figure rose to 852 while it further increased to 1,347 in 2019.
In 2020, the figure was 833 even though the GMC had closed its operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the figure for 2021 was put at 932.
So far in 2022, the data revealed that 1,107 Nigerian-trained doctors have been licensed to practice.
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Presently, Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK after India and Pakistan.
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In an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday, the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Alfa Yusuf, described brain drain as a menace bedeviling the health sector. Yusuf expressed fear that it may get to a stage where Nigeria will have to be scouting for medical professionals in the country.
“The only way to solve this is for the government to come up with a policy to address brain drain: good remuneration, hazard allowance paid as and when due and introduction of tax rebate, especially to health care workers. They should also give packages that entice our doctors to other countries. They should look at packages that will make our doctors stay in the country and not go elsewhere.”
In an earlier interview with The PUNCH, Dr. Uche Ojinma, the President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), pointed out that the brain drain being witnessed in the country would worsen the health sector.
Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of Health, had claimed that Nigeria has enough medical professionals but he, however, could not be reached for comments as calls and messages sent to him via his known telephone number were unanswered.
The United States, Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Australia are also other popular destinations for Nigeria-trained doctors.
SOURCE: The PUNCH
