By Angela Onwuzoo
A former Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital Idi-Araba, Prof. Akin Osibogun, has decried the gross shortage of manpower in the nation’s health sector, describing it as the worst in the world when compared to other countries.
More worrisome according to the professor, was that the few available trained health workers, were leaving the country on daily basis in search of greener pasture owing to poor working condition.
Osibogun disclosed this during the 2019 Ordinary General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association of Resident Doctors, National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi Chapter, Lagos , with theme, “Brain Drain: Effects On The Patients, Doctors and the Nation’’.
He noted that amidst the shortage, “we have skilled manpower living the country, because they are not satisfied with the working conditions.”
Osibogun said: “There is shortage of health workforce all over the world, but the Nigeria situation is worst.
“In the United States, they have one physician to 300 people, but in Nigeria, we have on the average one physician to 4, 000 Nigerians.“We are not producing enough doctors, and we don’t have enough nurses with our population of 200 million people.
“We produce from our medical schools roughly about 3,000 doctors annually for a population of 200 million people; United Kingdom with 60 million population is producing 4,000 doctors annually.
“So, there is a general shortage and amidst this, the remuneration is poor, no incentives, no good facilities and tools for them to work with.”
To address the situation, Osibogun recommended that more skilled manpower be produced and encouraged to practice at home. He also suggested that financial and non-financial incentives should be given to the health workers.
The former chief medical director said that brain drain have significant effect on the patients.
“If you have your skilled manpower living your country, it will mean that patients require and skill manpower wouldn’t have access to skilled manpower.
“This is why there is a lot of medical tourism out of Nigeria for treatment. “If you are able to retain skilled manpower in Nigeria, at least, you will also retain and conserve our foreign exchange,’’ he
said.
He stated that it was better for patients to be treated within their own socio-cultural environment than going abroad.
