The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has stated that insecurity is the main reason behind the outflow of doctors from the country, News About Nigeria reports.
The Kogi State Chairman of NMA, Dr. Abubakar Hassan, disclosed this to newsmen on Friday.
While reacting to the ongoing nationwide strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Hassan lamented that medical personnel have recently become the prime targets for criminal elements despite their service to humanity.
According to him, there are several other cases of abductions of medical personnel that have been unreported, adding that this has crippled the health services across the nation, Kogi State included.
He also bemoaned the failure of the federal government in providing security for its citizens, maintaining that it has become a serious hindrance to the practice of the medical profession in Nigeria.
“There are many others that are unreported. Some people have decided that they won’t use the kidnap of their colleagues to make the news for security reasons.
“Maybe at this juncture, I should add that in a particular North Central State, at least two doctors are currently in captivity, one for an upward of one year now. The second one happened only recently, just a week ago. The story is the same across the entire country.
“It has gotten to a state that doctors themselves, having been patient for too long despite the unfavourable situation in the country, are becoming patients, no thanks to their ordeals in the hands of these hoodlums.
“Doctors are becoming patients simply because they need the attention of other medical practitioners each time they fall victim to kidnapping. They suffer physical injuries and psychological trauma in the process.
“So, imagine a doctor going out in the morning to his practice to attend to patients, but on his way also turning out to be a patient to be attended to by other colleagues in the aftermath of his ordeals in the hands of kidnappers? This is the situation we have come to find ourselves in today in Nigeria.
“We have gotten to a stage where practicing in some African countries is becoming more attractive to doctors in Nigeria.
“Whenever you hear doctors leave this country, what people now refer to as JAPA syndrome, it is not all about the welfare package. Welfare should be looked at from a holistic perspective. Security should be factored into any welfare package for it to be meaningful.
“Even if you were to pay someone N10,000,000 per month, if he cannot sleep with his two eyes closed, such a person cannot be guaranteed movement from his residence to the hospital to attend to his patients. This results in anxiety, and a great many people are suffering from anxiety neurosis.”
