The House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions has vowed to reduce the outflow of Nigerians seeking medical care abroad and to address the brain drain of doctors leaving the country for greener pastures.
The committee’s chairman, Amos Magaji, made the pledge during an oversight visit to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja on Tuesday.
Magaji said the committee will also focus on improving the budgetary allocation for the health sector and ensuring that the hospital gets another land allocation to expand its health services.
He noted that the committee is working towards reversing medical tourism and making Nigeria a destination for medical care for people from other countries.
“We are going to see that medical tourism is reduced, and it cannot reduce until we deal with the issues of manpower, equipment, infrastructure, and we will see that these are achieved especially in the Federal Capital Territory,” Magaji said.
Meanwhile, the Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja, Prof Sa’ad Ahmed, disclosed that about 51 healthcare workers have left the hospital since the beginning of 2023.
Ahmed lamented that every department in the hospital is affected by brain drain, and that the hospital is facing a manpower shortage in key departments such as Ear, Nose and Throat, neurology, cardiology, and physiotherapy.
“This year alone, about 51 staff have left the facility. It is biting, and it will continue to bite. We can talk about one-for-one replacement, but sometimes you cannot get that level of experience of the person that is leaving,” Ahmed said.
