The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has called on the federal government to reverse the trend of medical practitioners leaving the country in droves for greener pastures.
Aare Adams who spoke yesterday at the 2022 edition of Elegbara Festival, held at Shasha, Lagos State, urged the federal government to look into the welfare of medical practitioners in Nigeria to stop brain drain in the sector.
According to him, between100 to 160 doctors leave the shores of Nigeria monthly, putting Nigeria in a dire strait situation.
Adams, who is the chief promoter, Olokun Festival Foundation and the national coordinator, OPC Worldwide convener, said, “it is unfortunate to hear the reports of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that Nigerian doctors are leaving the country in droves.
“The report indicates that there is a huge gap in the health sector. The recent story that Nigeria today has only one doctor to about 6,400 patients in our hospitals is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.
“The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had also said recently that about 4,000 medical doctors had finalised plans to leave the country for better jobs abroad. Going by these reports, Nigeria’s health sector is in an emergency situation. The irony of the situation is that we have one doctor for 8,000 Nigerians now.”
“Unfortunately, over 38 percent of Nigerians are presently suffering healthcare depreciation. For instance, in the last four years, Nigeria has lost over 2,000 doctors to the outside world.”
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