At a Federal Executive Council meeting where he presided, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration in the country.
Announcing this, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate said: "The policy is more than just a response to the on-going exodus of healthcare professionals; it's a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness and reverse health workers' migration. It envisions a thriving workforce that is well-supported, adequately rewarded, and optimally utilised to meet the healthcare needs of all Nigerians."
The new policy is welcomed with great relief by Nigerians as the exit of various healthcare professionals over the years to greener pastures abroad has raised concern on the abysmal state of healthcare in the country. Poor remuneration, absence of even basic working equipment and facilities leading to an unencouraging working environment has forced many Nigerian healthcare workers to relocate abroad at the slightest opportunity.
The negative results of this development are clear to see; the healthcare workers trained at great public expense in Nigeria are lost to foreign climes. It is ironic that Nigerian healthcare workers remain greatly sought after in many countries. Indeed, it is estimated that about 70 per cent of the General Practitioners in the United Kingdom are Nigerians. There are many more scattered all over the world helping to improve the healthcare systems of the countries in which they reside and work. We are not just talking about one category of healthcare workers; we are talking also about pharmacists, nurses, midwives, psychiatrists, dentists, ophthalmologists, gynaecologists, etc. The cumulative effect of this exodus annually has led to a crisis in healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
It is not just about the exodus and resultant dearth of personnel; it is also about the lack of a comprehensive policy necessary to run the many phases of the healthcare system for the ultimate benefit of Nigerians. This is needed to regulate the system, provide incentives and enable a conducive working environment for healthcare practice and delivery in the country. Indeed, a good number of the Nigerian healthcare workers who left the country did not do so mainly due to the better working conditions offered them to practice and excel abroad. If we could replicate and provide even half of those conditions needed back home, we believe many of them would choose to stay back and provide their services.
It is, therefore, a commendable and welcome development that the government has brought about a policy that will address the issues identified with migration of healthcare workers and the health system generally in the country. We particularly note that the policy chooses to look at the issues holistically leaving no one in doubt as to the government's noble intentions. In this regard, Nigerians will be glad that the government recognises the positive aspects that the migration of healthcare workers can bring. Since the need for certain countries to recruit foreign healthcare workers will be continuous, there would be need for Nigeria and such countries to enter into mutually beneficial agreements on the issues.
As the minister stated, the policy, also, "is really about health diplomacy and promoting ethical recruitment practices". If structured accordingly, Nigeria could benefit from the export of such workers through training and interventions such as provision of equipment and facilities, among others.
But while Nigerians have welcomed this policy, the overriding concern is that this may well falter at the point of implementation like many other policies before it. This has been the bane of many brilliant ideas in this country and Nigerians will be hugely disappointed if this policy suffers a similar fate.
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Echoing the feelings and expectations of Nigerians in this regard, the Director of the Department of Health Planning, Research and Statistics, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Chris Isopkunwu, stated that the policy should be characterised by collaboration, innovation and a shared commitment to the health and prosperity of all Nigerians. He said that: "By implementing a holistic set of interventions to develop regular and managed migration systems, the policy aims to strengthen Nigeria's healthcare delivery, improve health outcomes and secure the future of the nation's healthcare workforce".
We could not agree more with the statement and accordingly call on the government to be steadfast in implanting the policy in the overriding interest of the country.
We also call on the government to make more efforts in addressing those issues that force our much needed health workers to abandon their fatherland after a lot has been expended on their training.
