The president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Orji Innocent, on Sunday, January 29, raised the alarm over the huge number of members of the association moving out of the country for greener pastures.
Orji noted that a survey conducted in December 2022 revealed that over 2,000 members of the association left for greener pastures.
He said that if the situation is not tackled, it may degenerate to a point where Nigerians would wake up one day and discover there are no more doctors in the hospitals.
Orji also called for increased budgetary funding of the healthcare sector in the country, to the tune of 15 percent annual budgetary allocation to improve the quality of healthcare delivery, according to The Punch.
He said that, “The National Executive Council (NEC) welcomes the committee set up by the federal government to mitigate the brain drain in the health sector.
“The association urges a speedy conclusion of the task and immediate implementation of their recommendations to improve healthcare service delivery and reduce the emigration of skilled healthcare workers from the country.
“NEC calls for increased funding of the healthcare sector in the country, to the tune of 15 percent annual budgetary allocation in line with the 2001 Abuja declaration for healthcare financing in Africa and global best practices as well as the digitalization of the healthcare services to improve the quality of healthcare delivery to Nigerian citizens.”
The NARD president added that the NEC urged the Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) of tertiary hospitals in the country to take responsibility for security in their various hospitals as the association would no longer continue to watch her members being assaulted by staff members, patients, relatives or security operatives.
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