The Nigerian Medical Affiliation (NMA) and the Medical and Dental Consultants Affiliation of Nigeria (MDCAN) have described the latest approval of a retirement age enhance for docs and healthcare staff as an important step towards mitigating mind drain within the nation’s well being sector.
President Bola Tinubu introduced on Wednesday a coverage to boost the retirement age for docs and different healthcare staff from 60 to 65 years.
For years, healthcare professionals have advocated this adjustment to deal with workforce shortages, facilitate information switch, and guarantee high quality healthcare supply.
The demand has additionally been a focus in nationwide strikes, typically linked to the non-implementation of the Consolidated Medical Wage Construction (CONMESS) and Consolidated Well being Wage Construction (CONHESS) for docs and well being staff.
Talking with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, NMA President Bala Audu acknowledged the importance of the coverage however cautioned that it’s not an entire answer to the nation’s healthcare challenges.
Mr Audu famous that whereas the coverage alone would “not be sufficient” to deal with all challenges within the well being sector, it will assist considerably in stabilising the system.
He additionally welcomed the federal government’s determination to pay excellent wage arrears, calling it a optimistic transfer to assist maintain stability within the sector.
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Scarcity of healthcare professionals
The Nationwide President of MDCAN, Mohammad Mohammad, acknowledged that the affiliation has lengthy advocated for a rise within the retirement age for consultants and different healthcare staff because of the extreme scarcity of certified personnel wanted to supply high quality healthcare in Nigeria.
Mr Mohammad stated whereas the authorized enhance to 65 years is a step ahead, MDCAN had initially pushed for consultants to retire at 70, with different healthcare staff retiring at 65.
“Nigeria at the moment has solely 6,200 consultants, and a few quarter to one-third of them are anticipated to retire inside the subsequent 5 years, as many are already 55 years or older,” he stated.
“If no motion is taken, this determine will decline considerably, even with out factoring in different exits such because the widespread “Japa syndrome,” voluntary retirements, or deaths.”
He stated the retirement age enhance is predicted to assist maintain the healthcare workforce by permitting skilled professionals to stay in service longer.
He stated this may allow them to proceed offering care, mentoring youthful healthcare staff, coaching new docs, and contributing to postgraduate medical training earlier than retiring at 65 or 70.
Equally, Lagos State NMA Chairman Babajide Saheed counseled the event, stating that it will assist curb mind drain and guarantee extra docs stay in service.
Mr Saheed defined that the retirement age enhance would encourage older docs to remain dedicated to their work with dignity quite than counting on contract employment, which regularly requires renewal each one or two years.He additionally famous that eliminating contract employment would enable for correct retirement planning for docs and different healthcare staff.Regardless of these advantages, Mr Saheed emphasised the pressing want for the federal government to deal with the “Japa syndrome” — the mass migration of Nigerian docs overseas.
He burdened the significance of improved welfare packages, higher remuneration, and eradicating taxes on on-call responsibility allowances, warning that failure to sort out these points would proceed to weaken the nation’s healthcare system.
“The very first thing the federal government ought to do if it really desires to enhance the well being sector is to sort out the difficulty of Japa syndrome,” he stated.
Mind Drain
Nigeria has lengthy struggled with an exodus of healthcare professionals, notably docs, pharmacists, and nurses, to developed nations.With a doctor-patient ratio over 5 occasions worse than the World Well being Organisation’s (WHO) advice, the nation continues to lose a whole lot of medical professionals yearly to mind drain.
Between 2015 and 2022, over 5,000 Nigerian medical docs migrated to the UK alone.
The Nigerian Affiliation of Resident Docs (NARD) earlier revealed that the affiliation is left with just a few over 9,000 medical docs because of the mind drain disaster within the healthcare system.
Moreover, MDCAN estimates that at the very least 1,300 consultants have left Nigeria within the final 5 years.This continued emigration has severely impacted the standard of healthcare companies, as fewer expert professionals can be found to cater to the nation’s rising inhabitants.
Workforce retention, youth employment
Obinna Ogbonna, the quick previous president of the Nigerian Union of Allied Professionals, famous that the mass migration of younger and mid-career well being professionals is depleting the workforce at an alarming price.Mr Ogbonna stated that with out intervention, each youthful and older professionals would proceed leaving the system, finally resulting in a collapse of Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
Mr Ogbonna burdened the significance of retaining older professionals who’re much less more likely to migrate, noting that their expertise and mentorship are essential in coaching the following era of healthcare staff.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged issues about retaining older professionals whereas youthful graduates battle to search out employment, noting that the speed at which younger professionals go away far exceeds the variety of older ones retiring.
READ ALSO: Tinubu approves 65 years retirement age for docs, healthcare staff
“With out stabilising the workforce, there will likely be no skilled professionals left to coach new entrants into the sector.”
Mr Ogbonna known as for enhancements in welfare, working circumstances, and remuneration to make staying in Nigeria extra engaging for healthcare professionals.
“With out aggressive salaries and higher working environments, many will proceed in search of alternatives overseas regardless of the challenges of relocating,” he stated.
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