Re: Our Doctors Are Free To Leave Nigeria. We Have More Than Enough -By Ettu Mohammed

The Hon Minister of Labour and Employment

Dr  Chris Ngige

Abuja Nigeria

24/4/2019

Sir,

I assume you don’t know Nigeria need at least (90-95) years to bridge the gap between doctors and patients.

Sir, I believe you are not aware of the current 

Medical  Crisis in Nigeria hence I forgive you but as a Medical doctor, a  former Governor though your election was annulled and a Senator this is too much for me to bear.

Your likes are the reason why Nigeria is in a hole.  This is the same reason you took to oath swearing at the dreaded okija Shrine which led to your tussle with the Uba brothers before the court of appeal removed you from office.

Sir, I will take you thru the chronological timeline and give details on our woes.

Sir, Over the last 58yrs, successive government officials in Nigeria which include you have simply refused to invest in healthcare.

Sir, As recent as January 2019 there was public world-class medical centre in Nigeria where cancer and other terminal illness can be treated until the recent commissioning we witnessed during the electioneering campaign but with what I know of government officials and kangaroo commissioning I assumed it is all lies.

Sir, I believe you will agree that the medical practice in Nigeria needs a serious upgrade, Engineering is mixed with Medicine all over the world to advance health care treatment but in Nigeria, it is non-existent.

Sir, How many Nigerian doctors have been exposed to these modern equipment? 

Sir, How much is government investing in training our doctors? 

Sir, do you know Morocco with 35.4 million people have 20 centres to treat 40,000 new cases of cancer every year. They are Located in Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, Agadir, Fez, Oujda, and El-Hoceima, 11 of the 20 centers are public (with 9 are private centers)

As at today Nigeria with over 197 million people has no public world-class cancer care center that is working to the optimum. Once you are afflicted with it is near the end or look for millions to fly to India via begging on social media. 

Sir we all know that any country that fails to invest in researches is bound to be many cases of misdiagnosis as we have today all over Nigeria. 

The real details in Nigeria Healthcare sector is listed below. 

The current population of Nigeria is 199,961,971 as of Wednesday, April 24, 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates.

Nigeria population is equivalent to 2.6% of the total world population.

Nigerian government Fg and state budgeted only N8.38/day on her citizens in 2017 and the figure reduced in 2018 and went down again in 2019

Nigeria has  87,000 registered doctors on the Nigerian Medical Association’s register.

Nigeria has  35,000 registered doctors actively practicing out of 87,000.

Nigeria has 52000 registered doctors that are unaccounted for. 

Nigeria has 24500 registered doctors practicing in urban areas where only 57.7m of the populace lives. A ratio  of 1:2353  Physician : Patient

The standard of WHO for Physician : Patient is 1:600

Nigeria has 10500 registered doctors practicing in the rural area where 153.8m of the populace lives. A ratio  of 1:14647 Physician : Patient

Nigeria needs extra 285,345  doctors to make 320,345 doctors to match a ratio of 1:600 Physician : Patient.

Nigeria’s universities produce less than 3000 doctors annually where a larger chunk seek greener pastures abroad. 

Nigeria needs around  90-95 years to get the required numbers of doctors. A task which is as high as  Mount  Everest. 

Nigerians spend a minimum  of $1bn annually on medical  tourism  where 80% is remitted  to the Indian  medical tourism industry matching  27% of India’s earning annually from medical tourism  

Nigeria’s 2019 budget allocated a paltry N366 billion representing  4.1%  to the health sector contrary to the recommended 15 percent by African Union countries in the 2001 Abuja declaration which commits member nations to improve national health budgets.

Nigeria is in need of urgent help.

Ettu Mohammed writes from Lagos