A nation where the president, who previously served as the governor of the nation’s richest state, flies out of the country at the slightest physical inconvenience or minor Health-related discomfort, can’t have a vibrant and reliable medical workforce.
“May we not be struck by sickness that will require frequent medication”, “May we not get diagnosed with an illness or disease that requires crowdfunding or public donations.” These prayers are Nigerians’ favourite spiritual go-to whenever they want to seek abstract refuge from the nation’s comatose health care system. These prayers and many variations are not necessarily prompted by financial inadequacy or poverty but by a shortage of good medical personnel and the government’s troubling indifference to the nation’s healthcare sector.
Successive governments at the federal and state levels have paid lip service to the health sector and treated it like an afterthought. The situation has become increasingly worse in the last five years with medical personnel and health workers moving out of the country in droves to seek better opportunities in developed countries. This brain drain has further worsened the already pitiful and deplorable conditions of the nation’s health care sector.
On Wednesday, the president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Tope Osundara, expressed concern over the brain drain of medical professionals in the country. He is not the first person to raise the alarm about the trend. However, the people saddled with the responsibility of stemming the tide of medical expertise flight have largely been indifferent to the challenges in the health sector. Issues like said factors include poor remuneration, terrible working conditions, and a shortage of manpower, which often lead to an increase in the number of severely ill patients with an inadequate health care workforce to cater to their health needs, are largely responsible for the migration of medical personnel, especially doctors.
The reasons our health care system is deteriorating and doctors are speaking with their feet are not far-fetched. A cursory look at our leaders and politicians, from the president to governors and lawmakers, is all you need to understand why our health care is in shambles. For anything to work, you’ve to believe in it. Our healthcare system is the way it is because our leaders do not use it. If they are compelled to use it, they will do everything in their power to fix challenges plaguing it and, in turn, address the relentless search for greener pastures by our medical personnel in foreign lands.
As of 2023, over 12,000 Nigerian doctors are in the United Kingdom and many more have left since then. When a nation prioritises politics over real governance that positively impacts the people, this level of brain drain is to be expected. A nation where billions are budgeted for frivolities while preterm babies die in incubators at the hospital because of a lack of stable and reliable electricity will struggle to keep its best brains in the medical field. A nation where the president, who previously served as the governor of the nation’s richest state, flies out of the country at the slightest physical inconvenience or minor Health-related discomfort, can’t have a vibrant and reliable medical workforce. Health workers will not stay in a place where they are overworked and underpaid.
The shortage of healthcare professionals is already having devastating effects on Nigeria’s health indices, especially on maternal and infant mortality. The current statistics place Nigeria as the highest contributor of maternal deaths globally, with an estimated 82,000 deaths in 2020 and 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births cited in a 2023 WHO report which is over a quarter (28.5%) of all maternal deaths worldwide. The situation for infant mortality is equally dire, standing at 72 deaths/1,000 live births. These troubling figures have not abated as the mass exodus of health workers continues unchecked.
The effects of this brain drain are beyond just healthcare indices – they strike at the heart of Nigeria’s future. If the Nigerian government does not take urgent steps and decisive action to retain its healthcare professionals, the consequences will be severe, affecting the economy, education, and the overall well-being of the population. For already struggling healthcare sectors such as the maternal and child health population, the consequences are catastrophic.