NARD Laments, Says Only 10,000 Resident Doctors Remaining in Nigeria
- The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors says there are only about 10,000 resident doctors left in the country
- Dr Emeka Orji, president of the association, made this known in a recent interview he granted the media
- According to him, nothing less than 100 resident doctors leave Nigerian on monthly basis in search of a better life
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has revealed the number of medical doctors in the country.
According to the president of the association, Dr Emeka Orji, only about 10,000 resident doctors are left. According to him, about 100 resident doctors leave the country monthly to seek greener pastures, Punch Newspaper reports.
Source: UGC
He said:
“I know that as of now, we have just about 24,000 doctors, including the consultants, resident doctors, house officers, and medical officers. Out of the over 80,000 doctors registered, about 64 per cent are not in service; some have emigrated out of the country, some have retired, others have changed to other professions and others have died.
PAY ATTENTION: Join Legit.ng Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
“The resident doctors used to be 16,000 but currently, we are doing around 9,000 to 10,000. We cannot put an absolute figure to that because every day, people leave. So, we have an average of about 9,000 to 10,000 resident doctors across the country.
“In total, we have 24,000 doctors including consultants, resident doctors, medical officers, and house officers. The World Health Organisation recommended one doctor to 600 patients but right now in Nigeria, we are doing one doctor to 10,000 patients.”
Why Nigerian doctors are migrating to other countries
Going further, he told the newspaper that the major causes of the emigration were poor remuneration, poor welfare, and lack of housing schemes, Vanguard Newspaper reports.
“We have poor working conditions in this country; we are essential workers and it is expected that government should do whatever it can to make sure that they improve the working condition. If the health sector is going to survive, everybody must be involved.
“This year, between January and August, we lost about 800 and when we asked them why they are leaving, 80 per cent of them reported that it was because of poor remuneration and poor living conditions."
Governor Bello applauded for giant strides in health sector, top-notch maternal care
The Centre for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRG) has applauded Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state for his giant strides in the health sector.
The Centre, in a statement signed by Ifure Ataifure, ranked the governor as the best in the country in terms of medical infrastructures and health initiatives.
Ataifure said the Centre came to this conclusion after an assessment tour of capital projects executed by the Yahaya Bello administration since its assumption of office.
Source: Legit.ng
