Doctors-For-Change - From a Nigerian WhatsApp Group to a Movement

It can be quite devastating when your doctor tells you that the specialist care you urgently need is not available in Nigeria. I have been there before, so I know what it feels like. First, you count the cost of treatment - including travel - converting naira into dollars, dirhams, pounds, or euros. Then you worry about the emotional and economic cost to your family. But thankful that you have a chance at life, you do what you must to ensure that your health is restored, writes Beti Baiye for Nigeria Health Watch.

Data on the General Medical Council website reveals that as of November 2022, more than 10,000 Nigeria-trained doctors were registered in the UK. A further breakdown reveals that over 1,000 of this number were licensed between January 1 and 30 September 2022.

Doctors-For-Change started as a WhatsApp group to serve as a platform where returning healthcare professionals - and those interested in giving back to society from the diaspora - could convene. According to Dr. Babaseyi Oyesola, "It was a conversation that started from the fact that there are so many of us Nigerian doctors trained in the diaspora, who are coming home. But we did not have a forum for exchanging thoughts and ideas, bouncing off, taking advice, seeking each other out from the various specialties, and enhancing the quality of our practice through a network."

Taking the bold step to return home comes with its own pitfalls. Dr Pamela Ajayi, president of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria said, "some of the doctors in the diaspora have tried to come back or tried to give back, but they've had their fingers burnt in so many ways".