The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has warned that the country’s health system is facing a major crisis due to the high rate of brain drain.
The association’s newly elected president, Prof. Muhammad Muhammad, said that a survey conducted by the group two years ago found that at least 500 specialist doctors had left Nigeria.
“These are the apex of the profession,” Muhammad said. “They are the ones who are involved in teaching and nurturing new generation doctors from both medical schools and training specialists in Nigeria.”
The brain drain is having a devastating impact on the country’s health system, Muhammad said. Some departments in teaching hospitals are shutting down due to the lack of staff, and patients are facing longer wait times for care.
“It will take the country almost 10 years to replace the number of doctors who have left,” Muhammad said.
The government has been urged to take urgent steps to address the brain drain crisis. These steps could include providing financial incentives to doctors to stay in Nigeria, improving working conditions in hospitals, and making the country more secure.
“If there is no improvement in the current conditions, it will be difficult to prevent people from moving out,” Muhammad said.
The brain drain is not only a problem for Nigeria. It is a problem for all of Africa. A recent study by the World Health Organization found that Africa is losing an estimated 100,000 health workers every year to migration.
This brain drain is having a major impact on the health of Africans. It is making it more difficult to provide basic healthcare services, and it is contributing to the spread of diseases.
The government of Nigeria and other African governments need to take urgent action to address the brain drain crisis. They need to create a more supportive environment for health workers, and they need to make it more attractive for doctors to stay in Africa.