Academy of Medicine petitions National Assembly over anti-migration bill

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Academy of Medicine petitions National Assembly over anti-migration bill

The Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria has petitioned the National Assembly over the bill seeking to compel medical and dental graduates to render five-year compulsory services within Nigeria before being granted full licence to practise.

The letter titled, ‘Re: Bill seeking to restrict newly qualified medical doctors and dentists from leaving Nigeria,’ was dated April 20, 2023.

The letter made available to our correspondent on Saturday was addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; the Clerk of the National Assembly, Magaji Tambuwal; Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition, Uzoma Nkem-Abonta; House Committee on Health, Sununu Yusuf.

The academy also addressed the letter to the sponsor of the bill, Ganiyu Johnson; the Chairman Senate Committee on Health, Ibrahim Oloriegbe; and the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Mahmuda Mamman.

The letter was signed by the President of the Academy, Prof Oladapo Ashiru, and the Secretary, Prof Olufemi Ogunbiyi.

Johnson said the bill would check the mass exodus of medical professionals from the country.

But the academy said the proposed bill would not achieve the result envisaged, but had the potential to cause grave harm to the public health system and is liable to violating the human rights of doctors and dentists.

It said the causes of the brain drain of doctors and other health workers were the push and pull factors.

He said, “The push factors include unemployment (lack of job opportunities within the public health system and unsupportive environment for private practice), poor conditions of service, including non-competitive remuneration of health workers, poor work environment, including grossly inadequate resources to support the delivery of quality health care, and low morale due to excessive workload.”

On the possible solution to the brain drain, the body said Nigeria needed to attend to the push factors to reduce the problem of brain drain of health workers.