At least 91 Nigerian-trained doctors have been reportedly licensed by the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council.
According to The PUNCH, It was found that the 91 doctors were accredited during a period of 15 days, from October 10 to October 25, 2022.
There are currently 10,387 doctors in the UK who had their medical education in Nigeria.
Among the 10,387 medical professionals, there are 1,273 specialists, 1,837 general practitioners, 2,318 doctors-in-training, and 5,210 associate specialists.
The 91 doctors’ certification came amid protests by the Nigerian Medical Association against the brain drain plaguing the health sector.
Other types of health providers are migrating with doctors.
Nigeria continues to face one of the worst cases of brain drain in its history, with 1,307 Nigerian-trained doctors licensed in the UK between January 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022, as reported by The PUNCH.
However, the data does not include Nigerian doctors who received their medical training at institutions outside of Nigeria.
The NMA expressed concern over the outflow of qualified medical professionals but also raised the possibility of future doctor imports into Nigeria.
The number of Nigerian doctors practising in the UK is currently third highest, behind those from India and Pakistan.
The National President of the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria, Dr Victor Makanjuola, while commenting on the situation earlier, said, “In the last two years, over 500 consultants, in my estimation, have left the services of government hospitals for practice abroad. All our government hospitals are consultant-led practices, which is the global standard. We have lost 500 in just two years, and we have found out that those who are more likely to leave are the younger ones.
“To sustain the system and be able to train the next generation of medical doctors and medical students, Nigeria needs to retain the older consultants who are in their 50s and getting close to retirement so that they can stay back and train the next generation of doctors and medical students.
“Otherwise, the disaster of brain drain would be doubled because we would lose the younger ones and the older ones at about the same time, and you would find a system without consultants. This would affect the standard of care and the quality of care given by hospitals.”
