The Minister of Health, Ali Pate has stated that medical doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria are sought-after globally. This is even as he said that 67% of them work in the United Kingdom (UK).
The Minister made this disclosure on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday. He said if health workers of Nigerian origin pull out of the National Health Service (NHS), the service will struggle.
Pate spoke on the new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration approved by President Bola Tinubu. The policy is to tackle the exodus of health workers from Nigeria, in what has come to be known as ‘Japa’.
The Minister said Nigerian doctors and nurses are attractive globally and the country should be proud of that. He, however, noted that not all Nigerian health workers leave the country. He pointed that those who leave have their reasons for exiting.
“The policy is really about health diplomacy and promoting ethical recruitment practices.
“The recruitment countries; that recruit our professionals, should they not have some responsibilities help us expand the training? Because the strain of health workers’ migration is continuous. It’s not going to stop tomorrow.
“UK will need Nigerian doctors. 67% of our doctors go to the United Kingdom and 25% of the NHIS workforce is Nigerian.
“Does the UK, for instance, want to consider expanding the pre-service education? Can we have corridors that allow us to have a compact that ‘you’ll take so. But you will also help us train more so you will replace them’? That is in the realm of health diplomacy and ethical replacement,” Pate said.
“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,” he added.
The Minister said over 75% of health workers trained in the last year have left Nigeria to other countries as economic migrants.
“We have good training centres here, and the universities are doing a great job,” Pate admitted.
The Minister noted that there is freedom of movement and the government cannot stop them from leaving. He, however, assured that government will make it conducive for them to stay and practice in Nigeria.
Pate added that the new policy will facilitate incentives for medical workers to stay in Nigeria. This, he said will come with improved welfare packages as well as enhanced capacity development.
He pointed that the new policy also focuses on the promotion of a decent work environment that is not beyond 12 hours per shift.
source: Channels TV
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