Okay, yes everyone wants a greener pasture, but it definitely comes as a surprise to find out that Nigerian doctors who many in the country envy wanting to cut away from the country. They want to find a better life somewhere else.
It continues to remain a surprise until you realize their conditions and place it side by side the country’s health system.
According to a recently released study, as much as 8 in every 10 Nigerian doctors in the country have their eyes outside the borders of the country.
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Carried out by NOIPolls in partnership with Nigeria Health Watch, the survey took a look at doctors at various levels including junior-, mid- and senior-level doctors.
Guess two places where the doctors wish to flee to. You are right; America and Britain. As it happens, there are already many Nigerian doctors and nurses in these places and they happen to be doing just great.
In case you are thinking how serious this is, it has been revealed that as much as six in 10 Nigerian doctors are registered to write medical exams in other countries. While a majority have applied to write in the UK or the US, others have registered for Canada, Australia, and Dubai.
Most of these doctors who surprisingly also cut across private and public hospitals want to leave the country as a result of poor remuneration packages including salaries, low job satisfaction, and the state of the health system.
According to respondents in the study, a poor relationship among colleagues and inadequate opportunities for career progress are part of the reasons they want to get off the country. Other reasons include poor infrastructure, poor treatment by government and insecurity.
As it stands, more than 50% of the doctors do not practice in the country. This is as of the 72,000 doctors registered, only 35,000 practice in the country.
Unfortunately, even as there are many of them that register outside of the country to write the medical exams which would allow them to practice elsewhere, a majority of them didn’t pass the exams this year.
According to Dr Ifeanyi Nsofor who is the health communications advisor for Nigeria Health Watch, there is no balance between the doctors coming into the country and those going out. This is as it has shown that more are leaving the country than are coming in.
He also revealed that “based on the NARD figures that 2,500 are leaving by September this year, I’m not sure we have corresponding numbers coming, so it really doesn’t balance out.”
