West African countries are increasingly concerned about the continuous migration of their medical professionals to Western nations, significantly impacting their healthcare systems. These countries, already facing a decline in the number of medical practitioners against a backdrop of high population growth and various health challenges, are finding it difficult to cope with the loss of healthcare workers.
Despite implementing multiple policies and establishing medical and nursing schools funded by substantial budgets, the migration of doctors to Europe and America continues. This migration undermines efforts to address the shortage of healthcare professionals.
Taha Ahmed, a Dakar University medical graduate who migrated to Canada two years after his graduation, mentioned, “The state’s efforts in educating us were not in vain, but I migrated because of the low salaries and poor working conditions for doctors.”
The migration issue is not limited to doctors. In Ghana, researchers assert that nurses are migrating in large numbers to Britain, Ireland, Australia, and Canada. They call for better working conditions, flexible work schedules, and improved salaries to stem the health worker migration wave in Ghana.
Lisa Agyepong, a medical nurse who moved from Ghana to Britain, describes the healthcare sector in Ghana as suffering from a workforce shortage, lack of appreciation, harsh working conditions, and a scarcity of medical supplies and medications, all of which drive doctors and nurses to emigrate.
Abduh Saido, a researcher, notes that recent graduates or soon-to-be graduates from medical and pharmacy colleges in West Africa are constantly looking for migration opportunities. He points out that many West and Central African medical professionals have moved to Europe and America. Between 2016 and 2018 alone, at least 9,000 Nigerian doctors relocated to Britain, the United States, and Canada.
Saido criticizes the lack of action by African countries to halt the brain drain and calls for urgent measures to improve hospital working conditions, increase salaries for doctors and nurses, and encourage investment in the healthcare sector to enhance employment opportunities for healthcare workers.
