President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, permitted the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration to deal with the continued exodus of Nigerian medical doctors overseas.
The coverage, introduced by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, on his X deal with on Tuesday, goals to woo an estimated 12,400 Nigerian-trained medical doctors practising overseas
According to Pate, who additionally appeared on Channels TV on Tuesday night, 67 per cent of Nigerian-trained medical doctors are practising within the United Kingdom alone.
“The recruitment international locations, that recruit our professionals, ought to they not have some tasks to assist us broaden the coaching? Because the pressure of well being employees’ migration is steady; it’s not going to cease tomorrow.
“the UK will want Nigerian medical doctors; 67 per cent of our medical doctors go to the United Kingdom and 25 per cent of the NHIS workforce is Nigerian.
“Nigerians are very vibrant, very entrepreneurial, and very capable wherever they are. If Nigerians hold back from the UK, for instance, the NHS will struggle to provide the services that many Nigerians are going there to get,” the minister mentioned.
Pate mentioned the coverage signed by the President was greater than only a response to the continuing exodus of healthcare professionals however a complete technique to handle, harness, and reverse well being employees’ migration.
While well being employees believed the coverage is likely to be optimistic, they demanded the small print and implementation plan.
Announcing the coverage on Tuesday, the well being minister mentioned, ”This afternoon, HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR @officialABAT, in-council, permitted a landmark coverage set to remodel healthcare human useful resource administration in Nigeria.
“The National Policy on Health Workforce Migration addresses the important challenges going through Nigeria’s well being human sources. As the AU Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, Mr President’s dedication to a resilient and strong healthcare system is powerfully mirrored on this forward-looking coverage.
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“This policy is more than just a response to the ongoing exodus of healthcare professionals; it’s a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health worker migration. It envisions a thriving workforce that is well-supported, adequately rewarded, and optimally utilised to meet the healthcare needs of all Nigerians.”
Many Nigerian healthcare employees depart the nation for greener pastures, leaving their colleagues to deal with extra workload and prolonged name hours.
The push elements, based on them, are insufficient gear, worsening insecurity, poor working circumstances, and poor wage construction.
The minister famous that central to this imaginative and prescient was the Nigeria Human Health Resource Programme, which units a framework for normal opinions of working circumstances, making certain that well being employees, particularly in rural and underserved areas, obtain the popularity and rewards they deserve.
“By fostering an surroundings conducive to skilled development and stability, the coverage goals to retain high expertise inside Nigeria.
“In an more and more digital world, integrating superior well being applied sciences is important. The coverage’s deal with digital well being infrastructure—together with digital medical data, telehealth, and a complete well being workforce registry—marks a major step in direction of a extra environment friendly, data-driven well being system. These improvements will streamline healthcare supply and improve the equitable distribution of well being employees, making certain entry to high quality take care of all Nigerians.
“Capacity building is at the heart of this policy. It recognises the importance of continuous professional development, with strategic partnerships and opportunities for international training to equip our healthcare professionals with cutting-edge skills. This investment in human capital underscores our commitment to retaining and empowering our healthcare workforce,” he said.
He added that the coverage addressed the return and reintegration of Nigerian well being professionals from the Diaspora.
The minister mentioned by establishing streamlined registration processes and offering enticing incentives, the coverage wouldn’t solely encourage the return of proficient professionals but additionally actively reintegrate them into the well being system.
“This strategy leverages the experience of our Diaspora to bridge gaps inside the well being sector. Also, the coverage champions reciprocal agreements with different nations to make sure that the alternate of well being employees advantages Nigeria. These bilateral and multilateral agreements are designed to guard nationwide pursuits whereas respecting the rights and aspirations of our healthcare professionals. We name on recipient international locations to implement a 1:1 match—coaching one employee to interchange each publicly educated Nigerian employee they obtain.
“Recognising the significance of work-life stability, the coverage consists of provisions for routine well being checks, psychological well-being assist, and affordable working hours, particularly for youthful medical doctors. These measures goal to create a supportive work surroundings, decreasing burnout and enhancing job satisfaction.
“The governance of this coverage will likely be overseen by the National Human Resources for Health Programme inside @Fmohnigeria, in collaboration with state governments. This ensures accountable implementation and alignment with broader sector-wide well being aims.
“With this decisive motion, the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration is about to safe the way forward for Nigeria’s healthcare system. Under Mr President’s management, this coverage will additional catalyse the transformation of our well being sector, making certain entry to high quality healthcare for all Nigerians.
“As we embark on this journey, all stakeholders are invited to contribute to building a healthcare system that reflects our nation’s potential and promise,” Pate mentioned.
Explaining the coverage additional, the Senior Adviser, Media and External Relations, Tashikalmah Hallah, mentioned the federal government was negotiating with international locations the place Nigerian healthcare employees migrate to to assist Nigeria enhance well being coaching amenities.
“We are speaking to these international locations that our well being employees are going to, to see if they will now assist Nigeria to enhance provisions of among the amenities that may allow Nigeria to coach extra well being employees.
“The Federal Government has expanded our admission quota and improved on these medical institutions, so they are now encouraging all these countries where our health workers go, to assist us in maintaining these health institutions.”
Hallah mentioned the implementation of the coverage takes impact instantly.
“It’s a coverage, it was adopted by the Federal Executive Council yesterday (Monday). So, it’s speedy, and it has been permitted. So, it’s a Nigerian authorities coverage. This is a coverage binding on healthcare employees.
He emphasised that the FG has established a coverage permitting healthcare employees to journey overseas for coaching after which return to use their new information.
“Currently, there is a request by Qatar for 10 medical doctors to go there to study, especially in oncology. So, immediately after the training, they are coming back to the country,” he mentioned.
Guarded optimism
The President of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, Prof Muhammad Muhammad, mentioned the coverage appears to be like extra theoretical than actual.
Muhammad additionally known as for the small print of the coverage for a greater understanding.
“The challenge is that we have to see the element, it’s not simply the English that issues. People carry loads of insurance policies on the bottom, very nicely drafted and crafted, however execution is often an issue. It is likely to be troublesome to say we’re absolutely in assist or in any other case if now we have not seen the doc.
“I’ve deliberate to verify on the Ministry of Health, perhaps tomorrow (at this time), to see if we are able to get the doc and have a look at it. They talked about sure issues that now we have been advocating – the welfare of medical doctors, enchancment of the work surroundings, and retraining, however how they’ll do it must be spelled out within the doc.
“We were not consulted before drafting the document, so we don’t have an insight into what is in the document. If they are going to put it to work, what they have written might be beneficial to the system and to also the healthcare workers, but the problem is that there may be a lot of other things that we don’t know yet. For example, when they say they are going to stop the migration, in what way? Is it by preventing doctors from moving, or how are they going to do it?”
The MDCAN President famous that the general public must know if the coverage will enhance or worsen the rights of healthcare employees.
He mentioned the 1:1 match—coaching of healthcare employees to interchange each publicly educated Nigerian employee would possibly imply that, “They want any country that is hiring a healthcare worker, in addition to paying the healthcare worker, will also pay Nigeria for the cost of training that doctor. Let’s say Saudi Arabia or UK or Canada are going to employ a doctor that is trained in the public institution, they will expect that that country will pay Nigeria the same amount that was spent to train that doctor in Nigeria.”
The Secretary of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Lagos State Council, Toba Odumosu, acknowledged that the coverage appeared promising however emphasised the significance of gaining a clearer understanding of its particulars.
He additionally expressed assist for the 1:1 coaching match for healthcare employees, noting that this strategy is efficiently carried out in different international locations as nicely.
“For everyone that migrates to specific international locations, you’ve a bilateral settlement for lively recruitment of our well being employees, you then discover a option to sponsor the coaching of one other healthcare employee in Nigeria. So the burden of coaching isn’t just on the Nigerian authorities, however the individuals who additionally profit. That’s primarily what so many international locations have finished. In some circumstances, they’ve bilateral agreements that may imply that you just really go there for a sure variety of years, and you then additionally discover an settlement to return again to your nation for a selected variety of years earlier than you are actually free emigrate again. So, it’s kind of like a managed migration system.
“But, we need the details of the policy to understand how this works because we still need to allocate more funds in the health sector, and meet the 2001 Abuja health declaration,” he famous.
As of December 3, 2023, the variety of Nigerian-trained medical doctors licensed to follow within the UK was now 12,198, based on information from the General Medical Council within the UK.
Also, no fewer than 281 Nigerian medical doctors are working in different African international locations, based on the information obtained from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in 2023.
The MDCN information confirmed that 153 Nigerian medical doctors are working towards in Sudan; adopted by South Africa with 41 medical doctors; Egypt 17; Ghana 17; Uganda 13; Gambia – seven.
Others are Lesotho -six; Cameroon – 4; 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 complete of 13,656 Nigerian-trained nurses and midwives are working towards within the United Kingdom.
This is based on the most recent report on the variety of nursing and midwifery professionals on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register as of March 31, 2024.
The report additionally confirmed that Nigeria is among the high non-UK international locations of training as of March 2024, and the variety of Nigerian nurses and midwives working towards within the UK elevated by 28.3 per cent in a single yr.
Other high non-UK international locations of training as of March 2024, in comparison with final yr are India (62,413), Philippines (49,092), Romania (7,378), and Ghana (5,536).