Korede Abdullah
The Nigerian Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, has expressed concern over the rate of emigration of Nigerian doctors and other health workers to developed countries. The minister said it’s the reason health systems remained weak in many developing countries like Nigeria partly because they continue to lose their trained health professionals to countries that did not invest in their first professional education.
Speaking during his remarks at the opening plenary of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) Tuesday, Professor Pate said half the world’s population is still experiencing “health poverty”, deprivations of access to affordable basic health care, such as immunisation, reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care.
The 77th WHA is currently being held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 May to 1 June. The theme for this year’s event is “All for Health, Health for All.”
It’s reported that hundreds of Nigerian health workers migrate annually to more advanced countries, mainly because they seek better working conditions and better quality of life. Some of the popular destinations include the UK, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
According to various statistics, over 5,000 Nigerian medical doctors migrated to the UK between 2015 and 2022. According to the development Research and Project Centre (dRPC), 233 Nigerian doctors moved to the UK in 2015; the number increased to 279 in 2016; in 2017 the figure was 475; in 2018, the figure rose to 852; in 2019 it increased to 1,347; in 2020, the figure was 833 and in 2021, it was put at 932.
The health minister said Nigeria took responsibility and was poised to strive to rebuild the national health system, improve its governance as well as strengthen the country’s public health capacities, and unlock healthcare value chains in order to discourage exodus of medical experts.
While highlighting Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen its health system, the minister said the theme of the 77th WHA resonates profoundly with Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, whose goal is to save lives, reduce pain, and produce health for all Nigerians.
“In Nigeria, we cannot ask the global community to do what we are not willing to do ourselves,” he said.
