The doctors described the new policy as a positive step towards rebuilding Nigeria’s healthcare system and improving its health indices if effectively implemented.
Tinubu, approved the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration to address the continued exodus of Nigerian health workers abroad.
The policy, announced by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, on his X handle, aims to woo an estimated 12,400 Nigerian-trained doctors practising abroad.
Pate said the policy signed by the President was more than just a response to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals but a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health workers’ migration.
Many Nigerian healthcare workers leave the country for greener pastures, leaving their colleagues to contend with additional workload and extended call hours. The push factors, according to them, are inadequate equipment, worsening insecurity, poor working conditions, and poor salary structure.
As of December 3, 2023, the number of Nigerian-trained doctors licensed to practice in the UK was now 12,198, according to data from the General Medical Council in the UK. Also, no fewer than 281 Nigerian doctors are working in other African countries, according to the data obtained from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in 2023.
The MDCN data showed that 153 Nigerian doctors are practicing in Sudan; followed by South Africa with 41 doctors; Egypt 17; Ghana 17; Uganda 13; Gambia – seven.
Others are Lesotho -six; Cameroon – four; Namibia -four; Algeria -two; Ethiopia -two; Kenya -two; Liberia -two; Benin -one; Botswana -one; Equatorial Guinea -one; Niger -one; Rwanda -one; Sierra Leone -one; Seychelles -one; South Sudan -one; Tanzania -one; Togo -one; and Zambia -one.
So far, a total of 13,656 Nigerian-trained nurses and midwives are practicing in the United Kingdom.
This is according to the latest report on the number of nursing and midwifery professionals on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register as of March 31, 2024.
The report also showed that Nigeria is one of the top non-UK countries of education as of March 2024, and the number of Nigerian nurses and midwives practicing in the UK increased by 28.3 per cent in one year.
Other top non-UK countries of education as of March 2024, compared to last year are India (62,413), Philippines (49,092), Romania (7,378), and Ghana (5,536).