The Federal Government has said Nigerian-trained health workers are sought-after globally, and that 67% of them work in the United Kingdom (UK).
Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare (CMHSW), Ali Pate, on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said if health workers of Nigerian origin pull out of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, the service will struggle.
Pate spoke on the new National Policy on Health Workforce Migration approved by President Bola Tinubu to tackle the exodus of health workers from Nigeria in a phenomenon colloquially known as ‘Japa’.
He said Nigerian doctors and nurses are attractive and the country should be proud of that.
The minister said not all Nigerian health workers leave the country, adding that those who leave have their reasons for exiting.
According to him, the policy “is really about health diplomacy and promoting ethical recruitment practices”.
He said: “UK will need Nigerian doctors. 67% of our doctors go to the United Kingdom and 25% of the NHIS workforce is Nigerian.
“The recruitment countries; that recruit our professionals, should they not have some responsibilities to help us expand the training? Because the strain of health workers’ migration is continuous; it’s not going to stop tomorrow.
“Does the UK, for instance, want to consider expanding pre-service education? Can we have corridors that allow us to have a compact that ‘you’ll take so but you will also help us train more so you will replace them’? That is in the realm of health diplomacy and ethical replacement.
“Nigerians are very vibrant, very entrepreneurial, and very capable wherever they are. If Nigerians hold back from the UK, for instance, the NHS will struggle to provide the services that many Nigerians are going there to get.”
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