NMA says it will take 25 years for Nigeria to meet patient/doctor ratio
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
It will take Nigeria about 25 years to meet the ideal target of 333,334 doctors to care for a population of 200 million, and that is if it produces 12,000 doctors yearly, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) National President Uche Ojinmah has said.
Ojinmah spoke in reaction to disclosure by MDCAN National President Victor Makanjuola that the current doctor/patient ratio is 1:8,000 and Nigeria would need to produce 12,000 doctors yearly to meet the international standard of 1:600.
He recommended massive expansion of medical schools to increase student intake, Abuja should open more medical science universities, improve remuneration, and provide equipment to ensure job satisfaction.
“The Nigerian government should also provide a conducive work environment and improved security of life and property to retain doctors in Nigeria and attract those that have left the country back home,” he stressed.
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NARD urges Abuja to address reasons why doctors are quitting
Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) National President Emeka Orji raised the alarm over plans by 4,000 of his colleagues to emigrate and urged Abuja to address reasons doctors are leaving the country.
He expressed concern over the nonchalant attitude of the federal government to doctors’ welfare and other packages, per reporting by Vanguard.
“What government should do is to try and find out why and then address it. That is what a serious government does, because the truth is that it is really a very serious problem in the health sector,” Orji pressed.
“We believe it is an emergency and that if nothing is done urgently to arrest the drift, we would come to a stage where we won’t have doctors in our hospitals.”
Medical Guild wants declaration of state of emergency in healthcare
Medical Guild Chairman Sa’eid Ahmad reiterated 2,000 doctors left the country in the past two years and called on government at all levels to declare a state of emergency in the health sector.
“We cannot address an existential problem through the same ineffective ‘normal’ bureaucratic routines that led us here. There won’t be much left,” he warned.
