By Emmanuel Egbujuo
Medical experts have urged the Federal Government to implement reforms in the health Sector without delay to stem the tide of brain drain ravaging the medical profession. The professionals who made this known in an interview with journalists underscored the importance of tackling the issue of a mass exodus of medical personnel in the nation.
In view of this, the chairman of Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Rivers State Chapter, Mr Promise Anaene who commended the government for the initiative to stem the mass exodus of medical workers from the nation, noted that focussing on the welfare of medical experts would go a long way to discourage medical personnel from travelling abroad.
“Because these are the things people travel out to go to seek for if government is promising to do it of course it is a good news but the challenge we have in this country is not the making of the promise it is keeping the promise if promise made is kept of course who will want to travel out I can tell you for free that working in Nigeria all things being equal is better than travelling abroad when these things are not there people are forced to leave for greener pasture”, he stated.
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In her response, a nurse, Mrs Margret Okah, suggested that the government should extend the retirement age of health workers to fill the vacuum created by the migration of their colleagues.
“Since japa syndrome is the order of the day and the majority of those leaving the country are always the younger ones the government would not be able to stop them no matter the measure it out in place I will suggest that the government should raise the retirement age to retain our experience health workers who are willing to stay and work in Nigeria”, she said.
A Nigerian trained medical doctor who is practicing in the United Kingdom, Doctor Nwanyieze Ezeji, identified factors responsible for the migration of experts to include poor working conditions
“Personally, nothing would lure me back to Nigeria, but I can only speak for myself, apart from financial comfort there are other reasons why I wouldn’t want to relocate.
I would rather remain abroad instead of coming back home because of the high level of insecurity. Nigeria’s educational system is in shambles. I will seek a better future for my children abroad than in Nigeria,” she emphasised.
Report has it that in the last five years, about sixteen thousand medical personnel have left the shores of the nation, leaving behind less than fifty thousand to serve it’s growing population of over two hundred million.
