THE Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has announced the development of a National Policy on Health Workers’ Migration, which aims to address the migration of health workers from the country.
According to the ministry’s deputy director of the Department of Health System, Health Planning Research and Statistics, Nwakaego Chukwuodinaka, the initiative has been submitted to the Federal Executive Council by the ministry.
Chukwuodinaka said this at a recent policy dialogue on health workers’ migration in Africa, which was organized by the African Health Observatory Platform (AHOP) and anchored by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Read Also:
Study lists absenteeism, others as healthcare challenges in Nigeria
Brain drain: Less than 45% of registered doctors in Nigeria renew licence – MDCN
Brain drain: How FG is replacing migrant doctors – Minister
“What we are requesting is to have a managed migration, and to be able to implement that policy, we need a nod from the FEC. One of the key components of the Health Workforce Policy is to incentivise those that are on ground working, especially those in the rural and underserved areas. (It also seeks) to sign a pact with the destination countries.
“The pact is for us to equally gain from them poaching our health workers in the area of bringing technology for us, infrastructure and exchange programmes to help those we are training in-country,” she said.
The ICIR reports that the migration of health workers, particularly doctors, nurses, and other essential healthcare professionals, has long been a significant challenge facing Nigeria’s healthcare system. Their exodus has left many healthcare facilities understaffed and struggling to meet the population’s healthcare needs.
On April 26, this organisation reported that only 45 per cent of registered doctors in Nigeria renewed their licence in 2023.
In September 2023, the former president of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) said Nigeria had fewer than 100,000 registered doctors, out of which 50,000 practised in Nigeria. He noted that for Nigeria to meet the World Health Organisation’s standard of doctors to patients ratio, the country must employ at least 250,000 medical doctors.
Most doctors have migrated to practise outside the nation due to poor remuneration, inadequate infrastructure, unemployment, workplace conditions, economic issues, and inflation, among others.
Doctors migration has continued to push many medical practitioners, particularly doctors and nurses, to seek a greener pasture abroad.
In response to this, Chukwuodinaka said the new policy would support those who have migrated and want to return home, including how they could be absorbed into the system.
While the policy details are yet to be unveiled, doctors and other medical practitioners may find it unwelcome, as in the case of the nurses against the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) new verification certification guidelines.
The ICIR reported how nurses, under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), on Monday, February 12, protested in Abuja and Lagos against the council’s new verification certification guidelines.
Many nurses, mainly women, voiced discontent with what they perceived as an effort to impede their freedom to pursue career opportunities.
If implemented, the new policy states that eligible applicants must have a minimum of two years’ post-qualification experience and hold a permanent practising license.
The council also required letters of good standing from the applicant’s workplace and nursing training institution, adding that active practising licenses valid for at least six months prior to expiration are necessary, and the verification process takes a minimum of six months.
‘Brain drain in Nigeria’s healthcare very important issue’
On her part, the chairman of the Senate Committee, Secondary and Tertiary Health Services, Ipalibo Banigo, emphasised the importance of initiating strategies to mitigate brain drain in Nigeria.
She noted that brain drain among healthcare workers in Sub-Saharan Africa had been an important issue, adding that the availability of a quality and large number of health workforce across the various disciplines of health played a major role in health outcomes.
“It is important that we are able to come up with strategies and ways to go about it to mitigate the brain drain, to improve the strength of our health care workers, and improve their retention for a better outcome to compare with the global standard of health.”
Speaking on budgetary allocations to the health sector, she bemoaned the abysmally low health funding, far below the 15 per cent Abuja Health Declaration in 2000.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M