100 resident doctors leave Nigeria monthly in protest against bad governance
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Up to 100 resident doctors leave Nigeria monthly, only10,000 of them are left, and with the number decreasing every day, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has warned the country is in dire healthcare straits unless it acts fast.
“I know that as of now, we have just about 24,000 doctors, including the consultants, resident doctors, house officers, and medical officers.
“Out of the over 80,000 doctors registered, about 64 per cent are not in service; some have emigrated out of the country, some have retired, others have changed to other professions and others have died,” NARD President Emeka Orji said.
“The resident doctors used to be 16,000 but currently, we are doing around 9,000 to 10,000. We cannot put an absolute figure to that because every day, people leave. So, we have an average of about 9,000 to 10,000 resident doctors across the country.
“In total, we have 24,000 doctors including consultants, resident doctors, medical officers, and house officers.
“The World Health Organisation recommended one doctor to 600 patients but right now in Nigeria, we are doing one doctor to 10,000 patients.”
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Exodus caused by poor working conditions
Orji disclosed the major causes of the emigration are poor remuneration, poor welfare, and lack of housing schemes, according to reporting by The PUNCH.
“We have poor working conditions in this country; we are essential workers and it is expected that government should do whatever it can to make sure that they improve the working condition.
“If the health sector is going to survive, everybody must be involved.
“This year, between January and August, we lost about 800 and when we asked them why they are leaving, 80 per cent of them reported that it was because of poor remuneration and poor living conditions.”