At least 162 Nigerian-trained doctors have been admitted to practice in the UK in the past six weeks. This is according to the register of the General Medical Council (GMC) of the UK, GMC is the public body that manages the official registry of physicians in the UK.
Journalist monitoring the GMC website for the past 42 days has found that the number of Nigerian-trained doctors practising in the UK has increased from 10,824 to 10,986. bottom.
This means that from February 2, 2023, he was hospitalized by at least three Nigerian-trained doctors per day until March 15.
Nigeria has recently faced an alarming brain drain as many professionals, including doctors, left the country in search of greener pastures.
Nigeria is also observed to have the third-highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK after India (31,979) and Pakistan (18,490).
While the Federal Government claimed that brain drain is not peculiar to Nigeria, the World Health Organisation warned that this could negatively impact the healthcare system and hinder progress towards achieving universal health coverage and health security.
A 2023 health workforce support and safeguards list report by the WHO showed that Nigeria and 36 other African countries face the most pressing health workforce challenges related to UHC.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Emeka Orji, said, “There is a need for a review of the salary structure, and the government needs to work with the medical bodies to resolve their lingering concerns.”
Also reacting, the President of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, Dr Victor Makanjuola, said the country needed to produce about 12,000 doctors annually to meet the required number of physicians.
Makanjuola said the disturbing analysis shows that nine out of every 10 medical and dental consultants with less than five years of experience plan to leave the country for greener pastures.
cc: Punch Ng
