We Have Only 10,000 Resident Doctors Left In Nigeria- NARD
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has said the number of medical doctors in the country decreases daily, adding that only about 10,000 resident doctors are left.
The President of the association, Dr Emeka Orji, stated this on Monday.
According to Orji, about 100 resident doctors leave the country monthly to seek greener pastures.
He said, “I know that as of now, we have just about 24,000 doctors, including the consultants, resident doctors, house officers, and medical officers. Out of the over 80,000 doctors registered, about 64 per cent are not in service; some have emigrated out of the country, some have retired, others have changed to other professions and others have died.
“The resident doctors used to be 16,000 but currently, we are doing around 9,000 to 10,000. We cannot put an absolute figure to that because every day, people leave. So, we have an average of about 9,000 to 10,000 resident doctors across the country.
“In total, we have 24,000 doctors including consultants, resident doctors, medical officers, and house officers. The World Health Organisation recommended one doctor to 600 patients but right now in Nigeria, we are doing one doctor to 10,000 patients.”
The NARD president also noted that the major causes of the emigration were poor remuneration, poor welfare, and lack of housing schemes.
