The Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP) has picked holes in the compulsory five-year service licensing a doctor proposed by the House of Representatives.
The association, however, said that a national emergency should be declared in the health sector as against the proposed compulsory five-year service.
The National President of the association, Dr Kayode Adesola, made the call in an interview with The Tide source on Monday in Lagos.
Adesola said the proposed bill would have an adverse effect on the health sector as it was premised on the wrong notion that such a measure would solve brain drain in the sector.
He said the proponents of the bill did not conduct an in-depth research on the factors driving the brain drain crisis nor engaged health stakeholders on the implications before moving such a bill.
Adesola added that the bill would worsen brain drain in the country.
He noted that medical doctors did not need Nigerian license to practise in other countries.
“We keep saying that the health sector needs urgent attention. Our health system is not working and many Nigerians are dying because of the underfunding of the sector.
“We have teaching hospitals, general hospitals and primary healthcare centres that are dilapidated with outdated equipment.
“Political leaders are seeking medical treatment abroad while the citizens are left to suffer in a country that has one of the best doctors in the world.
“Before, it was the young doctors leaving but now, the consultants are leaving. Many health workers left because of insecurity, not just poor remuneration or poor working conditions.
“Insecurity is impacting negatively on the health of Nigerians and the ability of healthcare workers to deliver services to Nigerians
“Asides the medical doctor that was killed at his clinic on December 31, 2022; two other doctors have also been killed and nothing has been done to rectify the situation”, he said.
He noted that the issue of brain drain was multifaceted and requires a more comprehensive approach to tackle it.
Adesola stressed that declaring an emergency in the health sector would assist to proffer sustainable solutions to attrition of health workers, improved health care facilities, reduced disease burden among others.
The source reports that the House of Representatives on April 6, passed for second reading a bill seeking to mandate Nigerian-trained medical and dental practitioners to practice for a minimum of five years in the country, before being granted a full licence.
The bill sponsored by Ganiyu Johnson, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Lagos, said the bill seeks to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004, to address the brain drain in the Nigerian health sector.