Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed concern about the impact of the migration of doctors from Nigeria, calling it alarming.
He also called on governments at all levels to prioritize the welfare of health workers to reduce brain drain in the health sector and strengthen quality health care delivery.
Mr Obasanjo spoke on Thursday at the 44th Annual General Meeting and Academic Conference of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
The event was held at the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Idi Aba, Abeokuta.
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The former President, who delivered a speech on the theme “The Evolving Role of Doctors in Healthcare Management and Nation Building”, was represented by the Medical Director of the FMC, Professor Adewale Musa Olomu, who said that the current economic crisis has meant that healthcare workers are becoming more and more He lamented that this is contributing to the demand for environmentally friendly pastures. outside the country.
Obasanjo said, “Resident doctors form the backbone of the medical services provided to the people of any country, and Nigeria is no exception.
“Therefore, there is a critical need for governments at all levels to provide enhanced benefits to physicians without whom it would be impossible to provide meaningful service.
“Seeing how much work trainee doctors provide in our hospitals, we urge them to consider their welfare.
“The rate at which Japa syndrome is impacting our medical field is alarming, and many of our subspecialties are now under strict control, as specialists have left the country. We cannot operate in these offices again.”
Governor Dapo Abiodun highly praised the doctors who contributed to society despite difficult circumstances.
Mr Abiodun, who was represented by Health Secretary Dr Tomi Coker, appealed to doctors to protect the environment, noting that 30 per cent of the world’s environmental problems are caused by medical waste.
“As doctors, we need to start paying attention to the environment because of the statistics we heard last week: Medical waste and activity contributes to 30% of the world’s environmental problems.
“So if we don’t start doing something about the environment, what kind of planet will we leave for our children? So we think about waste and how we can recycle it and how we can go back in time. “We want to see if we can innovate what we use to create a new environment,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the association’s president, Dele Olaitan, asserted that doctors are the backbone of the healthcare system and appealed to colleagues to redouble their efforts in providing the highest standards of medical services to patients.
