THE Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has lamented the increasing demand for medical doctors’ services in the country amid the current brain drain syndrome.
NMA President, Professor Bala Muhammad-Audu, raised the alarm while reading a communique at the end of its Annual Delegates Conference and General Meeting held in Katsina State.
The conference had theme: ‘The Universal Applicability of Care Standards for Patients and the Well-being of Health Care Providers’.
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He said: “Population is increasing, demand on individual doctors is also increasing, while the doctors are leaving the country for greener pastures.
“15,000 doctors had left the country for greener pastures abroad in the last five years,” Muhammad-Audu said.
The NMA president revealed that the standard ratio of doctor-patients wad 1:600, saying “due to the continuous exodus of the medical doctors, the ratio has raised tremendously.
“If you divide the estimated population of 240 million by the number of practicing doctors, which is 30,000, it will give you the doctor-patients ratio of 1:8000.”
According to him, Nigeria is among the countries with the best trained doctors, where even America, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, among other countries, purposely come to Nigeria to recruit doctors.
“There are difficulties pushing the doctors to leave the country, one of which is poor working condition and remuneration.
“Here we are calling for the payment of seven months outstanding arrears and the consequential adjustments to doctors working in federal tertiary health institutions,” he said.
Muhammad-Audu further said that the NMA was now advocating the universal applicability of Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to its members in all sectors to reduce the brain drain syndrome.
He also said that the association rejected the new proposed National Prescription Policy because only doctors were trained to make prescription to patients.
The president said that NMA had conducted an outreach where 500 patients were treated, conducted eye surgeries on 100 patients and distributed nutritional supplements to orphanage homes in Katsina State.
