The Nation has been plagued with medical professionals leaving the country for greener pastures in the United Kingdom, USA , Canada, Australia and major European countries.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate in March, disclosed that in the last five years, Nigeria has lost about 15,000 to 16,000 doctors to the Japa syndrome while about 17,000 had been transferred.
The Minister also indicated that of the 300,000 health professionals in Nigeria, an assessment showed 85,000 to 90,000 were registered Nigerian doctors which was a big concern to the federal government.
“There are about 300,000 health professionals working in Nigeria today in all cadres. I am talking about doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and others. We did an assessment and discovered we have 85,000 to 90,000 registered Nigerian doctors.”
The minister on a post in X on Monday, said the government’s commitment to tackling the challenges surrounding healthcare human resources in the country..
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Pete said the policy was approved by President Bola Tinubu who presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
“This policy is more than just a response to the ongoing japa sydrome of healthcare professionals; it’s a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health worker migration,” said the minister.
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In order to meet the health care demands of all Nigerians, it envisions a dynamic workforce that is well-supported, adequately rewarded, and gets the most use of our health professionals
The new policy, according to Pate, seeks at facilitating the return home and reintegration of Nigerian health professionals who have lived abroad.
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The goals of these global and bilateral agreements are to uphold the rights and plans of our healthcare workers while safeguarding national interests.
We demand that receiving nations adopt a 1:1 match policy, meaning that for every publicly trained Nigerian worker they get, they should train one worker in replacement.
“The policy contains provisions for routine health checks, mental health assistance, and appropriate working hours, especially for younger physicians, in recognition of the need of work-life balance.
According to the minister, these actions are meant to foster a positive work atmosphere, lessen burnout, and increase job satisfaction.
Ali Pate said he is confident that these challenges would vanish since the campaign intends to enhance the Nigerian healthcare sector by easing the registration process and According to the Nigerian Medical Association in 2021, the major factors behind the healthcare professionals’ exodus were inadequate equipment, rising insecurity, poor working conditions, and an unsustainable wage structure.
