Tumult On The Health Front

ian state of yore when “exit visas” were used to prevent an ou low of skilled workers and poli cal dissidents. It was very difficult to enforce incurring administra ve costs and was a We Logis cs nightmare. We should learn from the debacle. Furthermore, where will it stop? Every skill counts, how about extending it to their areas such as informa on technology where “japa” is now a serious problem affec ng electronic transfers if funds.

cer fica on to prac ce un l they have done five years of service to reimburse the state for underwri ng their educaon in the public sector universi es.

The bill connotes the authoritar-

Brains drain to places where they are nurtured. The na onal assembly needs deep introspec on to answer the queson - “Are brains being nurtured here?”.

The answer is incontrover ble, they are not and it is natural that those seeking self-actualisa on will want out. Try to drop them and imagina ve ways will be found to circumvent it.

The health sector in Nigeria is grotesquely underfunded. The funding at all levels is underfunded both in terms of personal remunera on as well as investments in retraining and acquision and upda ng of equipment and the immersion of informa on technologies into the system. For example, compared to some other African coun es such as Kenya, Rwanda and the Republic of South Africa, Nigeria has not even started developing vitally needed game-changing Telemedicine.

The bill inadvertently is seeking to legi mise a two systems policy in one country whereby the elite can go at will to get medical treatment abroad, a right denied the overwhelming majority and their families. The bill is not well thought out at all.

The health crises in Nigeria is caused by underfunding, right now, junior doctors are once again threatening to go on strike for the umpteenth me. The me is overdue to summon the poli cal crises and stop bea ng about the bush; lives are at stake!