Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, says Nigeria
has enough doctors, but many physicians are practising outside rural areas.
Speaking during a two-day quarterly meeting of the Nigeria
health commissioners forum on Friday, Ngige explained why Nigeria may not yet
be able to meet up with recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO)
on one doctor to 600 patients.
According to him, every rule has an exception and Nigeria is
a developing country, not a “United Nations’ country”.
The minister, who is also a medical doctor, said many health
workers prefer to work in cities like Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, which
affects manpower in primary healthcare centres.
“We’re not a United Nations’ country; we are a developing
country. So, when such figures are given, I will tell them every rule has an
exception. We are not yet there,” NAN quoted him to have said.
“So, we shall make do with what we have. And when they’re
saying he said ‘yes, surplus doctors’, we have surpluses. I keep on telling
them that we have not deployed our medical manpower proportionately, and
adequately as we should do.
“How many doctors do we have in the rural areas and in the
suburbs since everybody is in the townships, with a medical and dental council
data showing 4,000 doctors every year?
“Before, it used to be 3,000, before the private
universities came. A lot of them are now doing medicine, including Afe Babalola
and others. We are now at about 4,000 plus. People even trained abroad are
coming back from Russia and Ukraine, and the rest of them. The Medical and
Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) is registering them.
“So, almost everybody has come to Abuja, Lagos and Port
Harcourt to stay. And we have 10,000 primary care centres that are unmanned as
at the last count.”
On his part, Akin Abayomi, Lagos state commissioner for
health, asked governors to create enabling environment for health workers in
their states, adding that there are more than 20,000 Nigerian-born physicians
outside the country doing well.
“This is why our governors should create an enabling
environment for our physicians. By now, Nigeria should not be talking about
brain drain. Rather, it should be talking about bringing back our physicians to
the country,” he said.
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