President Bola Tinubu has pledged to intensify efforts to curb the migration of Nigerian doctors and other healthcare professionals abroad, promising improved welfare, training and working conditions to encourage them to stay or return home.
The President gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja through the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, at the 50th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the West African College of Physicians.
Tinubu disclosed that more than 30,000 health professionals had been recruited into federal health facilities in the past two and a half years.
He said the Federal Government had also invested in training frontline health workers, strengthened specialist medical institutions and doubled quotas for medical education to address manpower shortages in the health sector.
The pledge comes amid concerns over the continued exodus of Nigerian medical professionals in search of better pay, improved working conditions and career advancement opportunities abroad.
The President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to improving healthcare workers’ welfare and strengthening disease surveillance and regional cooperation to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, including Ebola.
