Reps consider bill seeking 5-year mandatory practice for Nigerian-trained doctors

The House of Representatives is proposing a bill that will mandate Nigerian-trained medical and dental practitioners to practice for a minimum of five years in the country before being granted a full licence.

The bill sponsored by an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Lagos, Ganiyu Johnson, is aimed at addressing the issue of brain drain in the health sector of the country.

In August 2022, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said a total collapse of the health sector is imminent if urgent steps are not taken to address the brain drain in the sector.

The association called for an emergency solution to the issue in the health sector, adding that with the trend of medical doctors leaving the country, there may be a need to hire doctors from foreign countries in the future.

Leading the debate on the bill on Thursday, Johnson noted that the amendment was “in order to make quality health services available to Nigerians considering the growing trend of the Nigeria population and the current emigration rate of the Nigerian-trained medical and dental practitioners abroad.”

He added, “Nigeria currently has only 24,000 licensed medical doctors available in the country, less than 10 per cent of the number needed to meet the World Health Organisation recommendation.

“Now, only one doctor is available to treat 30,000 patients in some southern states, while in the North, it is one doctor to 45,000 patients.”

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The lawmaker noted that the tuition fee for Medicine in the UK was between £35,750 and £66,500 per annum and the duration of the course is four years. He said in the United States, according to the National Centre for Education Statistics, the average cost of studying Medicine ranges between $82,000 and $104,000, aside miscellaneous expenses which include feeding, accommodation, etc.

The lawmaker added that in Canada, the tuition fee for Medicine ranges from 52,000 CAD to 169,000CAD.

“But contrary to all these huge Medicine tuitions in the aforementioned foreign countries, in Nigeria, the cost of Medicine in public institutions range from N40,000 to 150,000. Therefore, you will all agree with me that medical and dental education in Nigeria is seriously subsidised,” he stated.

Johnson stressed, “Despite this subsidy in medical and dental’s education, Nigeria still suffers emigration of trained medical doctors and dentists into the hands of these foreign countries, which an average Nigerian can hardly afford for medicine training. The favourite destinations of migrating Nigerian medical staff are Europe, North America and the Middle East.”

But reacting, the President, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Emeka Orji, described the bill as anti-people, demanding that it should be withdrawn.

Orji said, “Some people want to cause trouble for this government before they leave. NARD is averse to such anti-people bill and it is unfortunate that an honourable member will be thinking about that. That is selfishness.

“Have they come up with bills to stop public officials from seeking medical services abroad at taxpayers’ expense? They will not do that because it is affecting them directly and instead of addressing the root causes of brain drain, they are going to the symptom, and that is totally unacceptable.