Japa: Nigeria Lost 16,000 Doctors in Five Years – Minister

Federal Government says a total of fifty five thousand licensed Doctors are in the country to attend to the population of patients following the migration of health professionals to hospitals and health facilities abroad.

It said in the last five years, the country lost about fifteen thousand to sixteen thousand doctors to what he termed as the brain drain phenomenon, otherwise known as ‘Japa’, while about seventeen thousand had been transferred.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate in an interview with Newsmen said the brain drain syndrome has robbed the health sector of its best hands, affirmed that the government is doing its best to expand the training scheme and motivate others who chose to stay back and serve their fatherland.

The minister reiterated that though there are three hundred thousand health professionals in Nigeria, only fifty five thousand of them are doctors.

Pate also emphasized that since the oxygen of any serious health sector is its human resource, Nigeria cannot afford to continue losing its best brains to the developed countries.