The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) on Friday said only 6,000 consultants are left in the country.
The president of the association, Prof. Muhammad Mohammad, disclosed this during the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The meeting was themed, “Policy Making for Quality Healthcare Services: Engaging Policy Makers for Quality Healthcare Delivery”.
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Mohammad explained that 6,000 consultants remain as of February 2024, lamenting that data showed that about 1,300 consultants left country in the last five years.
He lamented that the number of the consultants will continue to dwindle as the retirement age for medical consultants is 60 years.
“About 1,700 consultants are above 55 years of age.This means that in the next five years, they are going to leave the services for retirement,” he said.
Mohammed emphasised that the number of consultants would continue to reduce, as long as the country produces only one or two per annum.
“So you can see that the replacement cannot keep up with the loss from ‘Japa’ syndrome and from retirement,” he said.
Mohammad appealed to the government at all tiers to ensure medical lecturers are placed on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to address the disparities in their emoluments and temptation to embrace the ‘japa’ syndrome.
The Kwara State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, said the theme of the NEC meeting was apt, noting that appropriate policies were critical to assist the government in delivering quality healthcare to citizens.
The guest speaker, Dr Amos Magaji, the lawmaker representing Zangon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency of Kaduna State in the National Assembly, underscored the importance of policy making in healthcare delivery.
Similarly, Prof. Tanimola Akande, a public health consultant at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), advised doctors to focus on their health and well-being.
He underscored the need for self-care, regular and comprehensive examinations and exercise.
Earlier, the chairman of the local organising committee of MDCAN-NEC meeting, Prof Kazeem Ibrahim said innumerable policies have been formulated in the past without significant impact on the health of many vulnerable citizens.
Ibrahim noted that the meeting would proffer solutions to the challenges, as well as the ‘japa’ syndrome, pushing health workers to migrate from the country due to abysmal working conditions.