The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, has said only 6,000 consultants are remaining in the country.
MDCAN’s president, Prof. Muhammad Mohammad, disclosed this in Ilorin on Thursday during the association’s National Executive Council, NEC meeting tagged “Policy Making for Quality Healthcare Services: Engaging Policy Makers for Quality Healthcare Delivery.”.
Mohammad explained that 6,000 consultants remain as of February 2024, lamenting that data showed that about 1,300 left Nigeria in the last five years.
He expressed the believe that the number will continue to dwindle as the retirement age for medical consultants is 60 years.
The MDCAN president further stated that the number of consultants would continue to reduce, as long as the country produces only one or two per annum.
“So you can see that the replacement cannot keep up with the loss from ‘Japa’ syndrome and from retirement,” Mohammed stated.
Mohammad commended the government for its efforts toward finding solutions to the challenges.
He appealed to government at all tiers to ensure medical lecturers are placed on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, to address disparities in their emoluments.
