Lagos: NMA Says 507 Doctors Moved To UK In 24 Months

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State Chapter, has called on the federal and state governments to address the problem of brain drain in the health sector, saying that 507 medical doctors practising in the state have migrated to the United Kingdom in less than 24 months due to better conditions of service.

Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, the association’s Chairman, made this known during an interview with Punch.

Olowojebutu stated that brain drain had become a big problem in Nigeria, warning that medicine might go into extinction in the country if the problem persists and is not treated as an emergency.

The NMA chairman said, “There is a very big challenge about brain drain I have said several times that we have to be very deliberate about how we tackle this. 

“There is a pull and push syndrome that is affecting doctors leaving Lagos State.

"Last month alone, we had over 100 doctors who left Nigeria for the UK and about 80 of them were from Lagos State.

“During COVID- 19 in 2020, 81 doctors moved from Lagos to the UK.

"They had a special plane that came to carry them from the UK. Between March 2020 and October 2022, we lost 507 doctors from Lagos State alone to the UK."

He said there is a need for an emergency assessment and emergency meeting to curtail the problem.

“The nation must address brain drain as an emergency. Who is addressing it? It’s only the doctors that have been talking about it. Which government has come out to talk about it?

“So, for us in Lagos State, it is important as a nation that we address this push and pulls syndrome. What are we doing as a nation? There has to be an emergency to sort it out.

“We have to be deliberate about it because if we don’t, medicine will go into extinction. 

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

Olowojebutu lamented that the quality of healthcare delivery in the country has reduced because the manpower was reduced.

“There is a lot of dearth of doctors in Nigeria, especially in Lagos State. Some places don’t have specialities anymore because the specialists have left the country at this time.

“So, it is important as a nation that we address this thing wholesomely, the welfare of doctors and their salaries.

“We hope that the government will sit down and look at this as an emergency and solve the problem,” he said.

He also urged the government to stop being quiet about the problem, stressing that it is time the government arise and do the needful.