Govt must train more doctors to bridge deficit

Govt must train more doctors to bridge deficit


The Deputy Governor of Lagos State Dr. Obafemi Hamzat has advised that the best solution to bridging the deficit brought about with the rising issue of medical doctors migrating to other nations is to
increase the capacity to train more medical practitioners.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, Hamzat stressed that it has become important that the country increases its training capacity to fill in the roles many emigrating medical practitioners have created.

The deputy governor who noted that human migration is inevitable, added that the nation must train more doctors for the benefit of the nation.

Hamza stated, “Human migration is normal. People would leave, and people would come. But as a country, we can train more doctors.

“I am not against the brain drain of medical doctors, but what we need is to create a pipeline to train more doctors instead of complaining that medical personnel are leaving the country.

“If we train 5,000 doctors yearly, let us increase the numbers to 15,000; by doing so, the country benefits.”

Hamzat also cited the 2022 case of 197 Americans who discarded their passports to become Singaporeans, arguing that people will continue to emigrate but the Nigerian government must always seek new ways to benefit from the countries these Nigerian doctors are migrating to.

“The Nigerian government should rather look for a way to benefit from the countries our doctors are moving to.

“For example, if 1,000 doctors go to the United Kingdom, the UK Government must pay us something back in return.

“Therefore, our medical colleges need to increase their capacity by training more people,” he insisted.

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