The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, says other nations recruit health workers who left Nigeria for greener pastures overseas because of the level of training the health workers received back in Nigeria.
Pate stated this on Thursday during a briefing organised by the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in Abuja.
“There is no country in the world today that has enough health workers for what it needs, that is why they are poaching from us. That is why the developed nations are recruiting our doctors because we train our doctors, our nurses, our health workers so well, that’s why they are being recruited,” the minister said.
He called on parents to encourage their children to study medical courses and also urged states to establish training institutes where fresh doctors and nurses would be trained to fill the vacuum that has been created by those who left the country to practice elsewhere.
“So, what are we doing about it? We manage migration policy whereby we acknowledge that some will leave but let’s train more and the expansion of the training and that requires collaboration with the Ministry of Education but also the states themselves should have training institutions,” he said.
The health minister also appreciated those who have decided to stay back and serve the country.
“There are many health workers who could have left but are actually serving in this country because they really want to contribute in Nigeria. I saw many of them and we should appreciate them.”