A bill seeking to mandate Nigerian-trained medical and dental practitioners to practice in the country for a minimum of five years before getting a full licence recently passed second reading in the House of Representatives.
Development Diaries reports that the bill, sponsored by All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Lagos, Ganiyu Johnson, is seeking the amendment of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004, and is meant to address the brain drain in the Nigerian health sector.
The lawmaker also noted that the bill aims to make quality health services available to Nigerians.
The question then is, how will this bill reduce the problem of brain drain in the health sector?
Underlying issues
A 2018 report by the medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that Nigeria ranked among the countries with the worst health care in the world.
Health facilities (health centres, personnel, and medical equipment) are inadequate in the country, especially in rural areas.
Covid-19 pandemic exposed several gaps in Nigeria’s health care system, with as many as 48.04 percent of people living in rural areas unable to access quality health care, data from the World Bank shows.
In the area of funding, Nigeria has failed for the umpteenth time to meet the Abuja Declaration by African leaders in 2001 and the WHO to allocate, at least, 15 percent of yearly national budgets to health.
The federal government allocated N724 billion to the health sector in 2022, representing 4.2 percent of the N17.16 trillion budget.
Nigerian doctors are currently being overworked and underpaid in various health institutions.
Reactions to the bill
The President of the World Medical Association, Dr Osahon Enabulele, described the bill as misplaced and ill-advised, saying it should be withdrawn because it would rather worsen brain drain.
For popular social media influencer and medical doctor, Chinonso Egemba, also known as Aproko Doctor, the federal lawmakers should also pass a bill preventing any serving government official from accessing health care abroad.
He wrote on his Twitter page, ‘Dear @NGRSenate, if you’re going to pass a bill preventing doctors from getting licenced till [five] years have passed, kindly pass another bill preventing any serving government official from accessing healthcare outside the country until their service have elapsed’.
Dear @NGRSenate, if you’re going to pass a bill preventing doctors from getting licensed till 5 years have passed
Kindly pass another bill preventing any serving government official from accessing healthcare outside the country until their service have elapsed
Good for goose…
— Dr. Chinonso Egemba (@aproko_doctor) April 6, 2023
A bill to make doctors stay back for five years and practice before being granted licence would in no way stop the doctors from leaving as they can still leave after five years.
Development Diaries urges the sponsor(s) of the bill to reconsider their position on it and rather come up with solutions on ways to address the factors accelerating the brain drain crisis in Nigeria.
We also urge the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to look into the proposed bill and work with the lawmakers on achieving progressive rather than regressive solutions to the brain drain problem.
Photo source: Southern Voice
