50 percent of graduate doctors have left Nigeria – Health Professor

A health expert who turned up with other experts in public health and community medicine for a medical event, has lamented the helplessness faced by medical practitioners across the country.

President of the faculty of public health and community medicine, national postgraduate medical college of Nigeria, Professor Akinsanya Osibogun, while speaking at the 2023 17th annual scientific conference and all fellows’ congress (ASCAF) in Ilọrin, stated that it is regrettable that “over 50 percent of graduate doctors are outside the country”.

He outlined the need to make the country conducive for doctors to stay. Osibogun said; 

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”50 percent of our young graduate doctors are already out of the country because of strikes among other issues. But we need them for training to become specialists and remain in Nigeria.

“The government alone cannot do it. All stakeholders have to put in place a mechanism to improve the health sector and retain people we have trained by improving their remuneration, work environment and availability of equipment and tools.

“The environment must be conducive to keep them in the country. Our challenge recently is not finding enough people to train because of the migration of young doctors.”