‘Only 35,000 Doctors Practising In Nigeria’

Out of the 72,000 registered medical doctors, only 35,000 are practising, it was learnt on Monday.

This was disclosed during a public hearing on Bills seeking to establish health-related Institutions, regulatory council and healthcare development fund organised by the Senate Committee on Health.

Sponsor of the bill seeking to establish a Federal University of Health Sciences in Otukpo, Benue State, Senator Abba Moro, said the institution had become necessary to train medical doctors whose number is low compared to the population of Nigerians seeking healthcare services.

He said: “From available statistics, we have 72,000 registered medical doctors in Nigeria and out of this, only 35,000 are practising.

“The implication is that only that number is superintending over the health of over 200million Nigerians.

“This is ridiculous for a country in the 21st century. It is scary. By 2017 JAMB declared that of all the Nigerian children that applied for medicine and other allied programmes, they could only admit 20 per cent, meaning that 80 per cent of Nigerians waiting to read medicine were left out because they don’t have space.

“This is what the University of Health Sciences will bridge, create more spaces for Nigerian students to read medicine and other allied personnel in the medical market.

“I think this bill is very significant. The establishment of the institution is also very important, at the end Nigerians will benefit from it and it will improve our health sector.”

Moro noted the Bill was earlier considered and passed during the 8th National Assembly but was not transmitted to the President for assent before the expiration of tenure of the Assembly.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, appealed for synergy among all health practitioners saying no profession in the sector can do it alone.

He pledged that the five bills will be thoroughly scrutinised by the committee to ensure that the provisions would bring about improvement in healthcare delivery in the country.

Other Bills considered during the session included the Advance Health Care Development Fund (Establishment etc) Bill 2020, Federal Tertiary Teaching Hospital Development Tax Fund (Establishment) Bill 2020, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (Repeal & Re-enactment) Bill 2020 and National Maternal and Pre-natal Deaths Surveillance (Establishment) 2020.