President Bola Tinubu has approved the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration, a comprehensive strategy aimed at addressing the ongoing exodus of Nigerian doctors abroad.
The policy, announced by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, seeks to woo an estimated 12,400 Nigerian-trained doctors practicing abroad, with 67% of them in the United Kingdom alone.
The policy aims to manage, harness, and reverse health workers’ migration by creating a thriving workforce that is well-supported, adequately rewarded, and optimally utilized to meet the healthcare needs of all Nigerians.
The Nigeria Human Health Resource Programme, a key component of the policy, sets a framework for regular reviews of working conditions, ensuring that health workers receive the recognition and rewards they deserve.
The push factors driving health workers’ migration, including inadequate equipment, worsening insecurity, poor working conditions, and poor salary structure, will be addressed through this policy.
The minister emphasized that the policy is more than just a response to the ongoing exodus but a forward-looking strategy to transform healthcare human resource management in Nigeria.
While health workers have expressed optimism about the policy, they demand details and an implementation plan.
The policy’s success will depend on its effective implementation and the willingness of the government to address the underlying issues driving health workers’ migration.
As of December 3, 2023, the number of Nigerian-trained doctors licensed to practice in the UK was now 12,198, according to data from the General Medical Council in the UK.
Also, no fewer than 281 Nigerian doctors are working in other African countries, according to the data obtained from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in 2023.
The MDCN data showed that 153 Nigerian doctors are practicing in Sudan; followed by South Africa with 41 doctors; Egypt 17; Ghana 17; Uganda 13; Gambia – seven.
Others are Lesotho -six; Cameroon – four; Namibia -four; Algeria -two; Ethiopia -two; Kenya -two; Liberia -two; Benin -one; Botswana -one; Equatorial Guinea -one; Niger -one; Rwanda -one; Sierra Leone -one; Seychelles -one; South Sudan -one; Tanzania -one; Togo -one; and Zambia -one.
So far, a total of 13,656 Nigerian-trained nurses and midwives are practicing in the United Kingdom.
This is according to the latest report on the number of nursing and midwifery professionals on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register as of March 31, 2024.
The report also showed that Nigeria is one of the top non-UK countries of education as of March 2024, and the number of Nigerian nurses and midwives practicing in the UK increased by 28.3 per cent in one year.
