Brain Drain: NMA Says Medical Profession May Go Into Extinction

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has warned that Nigeria may soon witness the extinction of medicine as a profession if the spate of emigration continues.

Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, the Chairman of the NMA Lagos Branch stated this during a stakeholder’s engagement with political party leaders and gubernatorial candidates in Lagos.

While noting that Nigeria lost over 1,800 doctors and healthcare workers as of December 2022, he stressed that the level of increase in brain drain is doing a lot of harm to the country’s health sector.

Hence, he suggests a conscious effort by stakeholders to solve the issue.

According to him, the number of doctors leaving the country continues to increase every day.

For instance, in 2020, he noted that only 81 doctors moved from Lagos to the UK during the Covid.

He also stated that between March 2020 and October 2022, the country lost 507 doctors to the UK.

“In December 2022 alone, we lost over 1,800 doctors and other healthcare workers to brain drain.

"We need to think of how to make healthcare attractive and sustainable.

 “Before, we used to have young doctors travelling abroad for greener pastures, but now, even the consultants that are supposed to be training the youth doctors are leaving the country."