No bilateral agreement aimed at restricting Nigerian doctors’ emigration to Britain has been signed, says the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). It denied a tweet that “the MDCN visited the General Medical Council (GMC) office in Manchester UK” and that “…a bilateral agreement that all Nigerian-trained doctors must practice in Nigeria for at least 10 years before being qualified to live/work in the UK”.
MDCN confirmed its visit to the UK medical body but said it was for a different purpose: it conceded it had engaged in “various discussions with the UK medical council, including the repatriation of some funds in line with global health initiatives from Nigerian doctors, who were trained with taxpayers’ funds”, reports Premium Times.
“Discussion around stemming the tide of brain drain also took place, but the rumour about bilateral agreement … is FALSE, uncalled for, mischievous and should be totally disregarded. No form of agreement was signed,” it said.
Statistics have shown that most Nigerian-trained doctors migrate to other developed countries, many to Britain. President of the Nigerian Medical Association Uche Rowland, at a recent symposium to discuss the brain drain in the health sector, said at least 5 600 Nigerian doctors had migrated to the UK over the past eight years.
He added that 727 medical doctors trained in Nigeria had relocated to the UK between December 2021 and May this year; indicating that the total figure for 2022 would be higher than previous years.
Nigeria has the highest number of foreign doctors in the UK after India and Pakistan.
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Only Africa’s leaders can staunch Africa’s medical brain drain
Brain drain continues despite conventions on medical poaching
Nigeria’s elites confronting the daily realities faced by their compatriots