The Nigerian Medical Association–NMA, has expressed concern over the scarcity of doctors in Jigawa State, with the current ratio of one doctor to about 21,000 patients in the state.
Dr Aminu Abdullahi, the NMA Chairman in the state who revealed this in a statement on Saturday to celebrate the 2023 Physicians Week had remarked that Jigawa State had the highest record of brain drain in the country.
Note that the World Health Organizations’ (WHO) standard is one doctor to 600 patients.
To this effect, the chairman, therefore, bemoaned how the brain drain was negatively affecting the state, which had set down 16 per cent of its 2023 annual budget to the health sector.
He said that the association is worried about the sad development.
In his words:
“At present, there are about 350 doctors working in both state and federal health facilities.
This means that the NMA chapter in Jigawa has about 350 doctors attending to seven million people in the state.”
“Currently, the doctor/patient ratio in Jigawa is balancing at about 1: 21,000, against the WHO standard of 1/600 patients. This ratio is similar to that of nurses and other health workers in the state. A very dismal figure nationwide. This number will significantly affect our health indices.”
It is noteworthy to mention that Jigawa had been among the early states to implement the CONMESS and CONHESS salary structure for the healthcare workforce in 2011, making it one of the highest paid states in the country then.
