• Warns of burnout, untimely deaths amongst medical doctors
Fidelis David in Akure
Ondo State has misplaced greater than 400 medical doctors to migration and different varieties of workforce attrition in the final 5 years, leaving the state with roughly 500 medical doctors in public well being establishments and a doctor-to-patient ratio of one to 6,000, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has disclosed.
The NMA Chairman in Ondo State, Dr. Roland Bola Arohunmolase, raised the alarm in Akure on Monday whereas talking on behalf of the affiliation’s nationwide president, Dr. (Prof.) Afekhide Ernest Omoti, as half of actions marking the 2026 Physicians’ Week, themed “Securing the Future of Medicine in Nigeria.”
Arohunmolase stated the mass departure of medical doctors had positioned an unlimited burden on the state’s healthcare system, worsening the workload of the remaining practitioners and threatening the standard of medical providers obtainable to residents.
“As of today, we barely have 500 doctors across state and federal government health establishments in Ondo State, excluding the private sector. Based on the records available to me, we have about 500 doctors,” he stated.
He stated, “There was a time when we had about 900 doctors, or close to 1,000, in our healthcare system. However, an average of about 400 doctors have exited the system. This emigration has placed an enormous burden on the healthcare sector.”
The NMA chairman stated the state of affairs required pressing intervention by the state authorities, significantly by improved remuneration, higher working circumstances and deliberate insurance policies to appeal to and retain medical professionals.
“We are using this opportunity to appeal to the Ondo State Government to look inward and consider how it can attract more doctors into the healthcare system. This would help reduce the burnout currently being experienced by doctors and other healthcare professionals in the state,” he stated.
Arohunmolase, nevertheless recommended Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for approving the nationwide round on medical doctors’ remuneration issued by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, describing the choice as a constructive step in direction of bettering medical doctors’ welfare.
He, nevertheless, stated some states paid medical doctors above the nationally permitted charges, noting that extra aggressive remuneration may assist governments retain skilled practitioners and appeal to new ones.
The NMA chairman additionally attributed the continued medical tourism patronised by rich Nigerians, together with politicians, to insufficient infrastructure and the scarcity of important medical tools in the nation’s healthcare services.
He expressed concern that Ondo State may not have up to 4 defibrillators, gadgets used to ship managed electrical shocks to sufferers experiencing sure life-threatening coronary heart rhythm disturbances.
“I believe they go abroad because they themselves know the inadequacies that exist within our system,” he stated, arguing that the failure to present important tools and trendy medical expertise had undermined public confidence in native healthcare providers.
He famous that many medical doctors attending to Nigerians overseas had obtained their medical coaching in Nigeria, stressing that the problem was not essentially a scarcity of competent medical personnel however the inadequacies confronting them in the nation.
“The challenge is not necessarily the competence of our doctors but the inadequacies within the healthcare system. These shortcomings undermine public confidence and encourage people, particularly politicians, to continue seeking medical treatment overseas,” he stated.
Arohunmolase known as for elevated authorities funding in healthcare, noting that Nigeria’s estimated two to three per cent budgetary allocation to the sector remained considerably under the 15 per cent dedication made by African governments beneath the Abuja Declaration.
He stated improved funding was important to strengthen well being infrastructure, equip hospitals, enhance working circumstances and supply aggressive remuneration for medical professionals.
The NMA chairman’s issues echoed the nationwide president’s message in his handle for the 2026 Physicians’ Week, which recognized medical doctors’ welfare, skilled burnout, insecurity, declining remuneration and medical migration as main threats to the long run of medication in Nigeria.
Omoti, in the handle, warned in opposition to a healthcare tradition that anticipated medical doctors to regularly sacrifice their wellbeing whereas working beneath tough circumstances.
“A physician who is physically exhausted, emotionally depleted, chronically stressed and personally neglected cannot indefinitely provide the quality of care our patients deserve,” he stated.
He known as for improved working environments, enough staffing, common medical checks, enough relaxation and confidential psychological help for medical doctors, stressing that doctor wellbeing was important to affected person security and the efficient supply of healthcare.
The NMA president additionally urged governments to sort out the circumstances driving medical doctors overseas, arguing that patriotism alone couldn’t persuade medical professionals to stay in Nigeria with out respectable working circumstances, skilled dignity, safety and aggressive remuneration.
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On the long run of medical apply, Omoti advocated the combination of digital well being, synthetic intelligence, telemedicine and different rising applied sciences into medical schooling and healthcare supply, whereas insisting that innovation should not erode the human connection between medical doctors and sufferers.
He additionally known as for stronger safety for healthcare employees in opposition to threats, intimidation and office violence, urging hospital directors and governments to be certain that hospitals remained secure environments for each medical personnel and sufferers.
The NMA president urged medical doctors to stay united in defending the career’s dignity and welfare, whereas calling on governments to make investments in a healthcare system succesful of retaining expert practitioners and offering Nigerians with accessible, high quality medical providers.
He stated securing the long run of medication required a collective dedication to bettering medical doctors’ welfare, modernising medical schooling, strengthening well being infrastructure and rebuilding public confidence in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
