The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has revealed that no fewer than 67 per cent of Nigerian doctors practice in the United Kingdom.
He also stated that Nigerian-trained doctors and nurses are in high demand worldwide, adding that the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK would struggle if Nigerian doctors withdraw from the scheme.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television's Politics Today programme on Tuesday, Pate proposed that countries hiring Nigerian health workers, like the UK, should expand pre-service education programs in Nigeria to balance the migration of professionals with local training efforts.
His words: "UK will need Nigerian doctors. 67% of our doctors go to the United Kingdom, and 25% of the NHIS workforce is Nigerian.
"The recruitment countries that recruit our professionals, should they not have some responsibilities to help us expand the training? Because the strain of health workers' migration is continuous, it's not going to stop tomorrow.
"Does the UK, for instance, want to consider expanding the pre-service education? Can we have corridors that allow us to have a compact that 'you'll take so but you will also help us train more so you will replace them'? That is in the realm of health diplomacy and ethical replacement.
"Nigerians are very vibrant, very entrepreneurial, and very capable wherever they are. If Nigerians hold back from the UK, for instance, the NHS will struggle to provide the services that many Nigerians are going there to get."
The minister also noted that over 75% of health workers trained in Nigeria in the past year have left the country for opportunities abroad.
He added that, while the government cannot restrict freedom of movement, efforts will be made to create a more favourable environment to encourage health workers to stay and practice in Nigeria.
"We're not stopping anyone from leaving. We're accepting that migration is here to stay--people will leave, some will come back, and some will migrate here from elsewhere.
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"You're free to leave, but we will work on making the environment more conducive, to make you more likely to stay than leave, and to attract/incentivise those who've left, to come back," he said.
Pate added that the newly approved National Policy on Health Workforce Migration by President Bola Tinubu will provide incentives for medical workers to stay in Nigeria through improved welfare and enhanced capacity development.
