The shortage of doctors has been majorly associated with their relocation to other countries for better opportunities.
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general elections, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to tackle the poor remuneration of Nigerian doctors if elected.
The shortage of doctors has been majorly associated with their relocation to other countries for better opportunities.
According to the online register of the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom (UK), which is responsible by law for registering UK doctors, the number of Nigerian doctors practising in the UK jumped from 7,167 in 2019 to 9,203 in 2021.
This shows an increase of 28 per cent within two years. And this is just for the UK alone.
Speaking at the Nigerian Medical Association National Executive Council Meeting/Leadership Retreat in Asaba, Delta State on Thursday, Sowore promised to review the salary structure of medical doctors and other civil servants.
Medical practitioners in Nigeria have been on a long war path with the government over an increase in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
CONMESS is the salary structure for medical and dental officers in the federal public service while CONHESS is the salary structure for their counterparts in other fields including pharmacy, medical laboratory science, nursing, among others.
Medical doctors and other health workers have downed tools many times in the past over the failure of the government to review the salary structure which has been due since 2014.
However, Sowore promised to pay them decent salaries, noting that Nigerian senators who worked for only three months annually are paid in millions.
According to him, at the rate doctors are leaving Nigeria for greener pastures, the country may soon end up with very few doctors left.
“Our Senators barely working up to three months in a year. But if a Senator is sick, it’s a doctor that would be called upon. If the president of the country is sick today and they are not lucky enough to fly him to London, a doctor has to be called to attend to him. So why should the president earn more than a doctor? It’s a question we should be asking ourselves.
“And I am putting this to those of you in the militant wing of the medical profession. But as a candidate who is going to be president of Nigeria in 2023, you are guaranteed, for us, our minimum wage starts from 250 but that’s not for doctors, that’s for those who might be sweeping our streets,” Sowore said.