Other countries are poaching for our Medical Doctors – Chairman

By Christiana Ekpa

The Chairman of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors/Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals, Prof Emem Bassey, on Wednesday said other African countries are now poaching Nigerian medical doctors and other health professionals, even as he said that Nigeria health sector is currently undergoing a major crisis interns of manpower.
Bassey, who is the CMD of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, said the health sector is currently undergoing a major crisis in terms of manpower as health professionals are leaving in droves.
He also said doctors often went on strike because the government often failed to meet unrealizable promises.
Bassey said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee to probe employment racketeering in Federal Government agencies alongside the heads of other health institutions in the country.
He said, “Some African countries are also beginning to poach from Nigeria. The west coast is looking for our specialists. So many people are now going to places like Sierra Leone and Gambia and the wages they earn 3000, 4000 dollars. It is about three to four times what they earn back home. So we are beginning to see that people are leaving to other African countries too.
“The health sector is currently undergoing a major crisis in terms of manpower. What we are seeing is that medical specialists, not just doctors, even nurses, in fact even more nurses are even leaving. Doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists, physiotherapists, radiographers and all manner of health professionals are leaving the country in droves.
“That is part of the problem we are facing. Replacement of these health workers is a very major problem. This is because even though we are usually granted approvals to recruit, getting the waivers is a tortuous process.”
He said due to the urgency of the need to replace various health professionals who leave, it is difficult to comply with federal character in recruitments.
On incessant strike actions embarked on by doctors, he said, “A strike should be the very last option, but one of the things we have seen has been the fact that we see threats and threats and threats. And instead of, I would say, governments in the past sitting down to negotiate resolutions that are feasible, just because you want to end a strike, you have agreements that you cannot implement. And then after a certain period, six months or one year and you have not implemented it, people now go on strike. So we need to sit down together.”