MDCN is the agency with the mandate to register and regulate the medical profession in Nigeria.
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, (MDCN), has denied allegations that it signed a bilateral agreement aimed at restricting the emigration of Nigerian-trained doctors to the United Kingdom (UK).
A Twitter user @doctorisonu, had, in the early hours of Wednesday, tweeted that “The MDCN visited the General Medical Council (GMC) office in Manchester UK” and that “There was a bilateral agreement that all Nigerian-trained doctors must practice in Nigeria for at least 10 years before being qualified to live and work in the UK.”
In a statement posted on its official twitter handle Wednesday night, MDCN confirmed its visit to the UK medical body but said it was for a different purpose, thereby disregarding the tweet circulating on social media.
The agency said it had various discussions with the UK medical council including “the repatriation of some funds in line with global health initiatives from Nigerian doctors, who were trained with taxpayers’ funds.”
The statement reads in part; “We had a lot of useful discussions, amongst which is the possibility of the UK government to repatriate some funds in line with global health initiatives from Nigerian doctors who were trained with taxpayers’ funds.
“Discussion around stemming the tide of brain drain also took place.
“Therefore, the rumour about bilateral agreement that all Nigerian – trained doctors must practice in Nigeria for at least 10 years before being qualified to live and work in the UK or elsewhere is FALSE, uncalled for, mischievous and should be totally disregarded.
“However, no form of agreement was signed.”
Brain Drain
Various statistics have shown that the majority of Nigerian-trained doctors are migrating to other developed countries, with a high percentage of them choosing the UK.
The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Uche Rowland, at a recent symposium to discuss the brain drain in the country’s health sector said at least 5,600 Nigerian medical doctors have migrated to the United Kingdom (UK) in the last eight years.
Mr Rowland also said a total of 727 medical doctors trained in Nigeria relocated to the UK in six months, between December 2021 and May this year; an indication that the total figure for 2022 would be higher than previous years.
He noted that Nigeria has the highest number of foreign doctors in the UK after India and Pakistan.
Quoting the UK medical council, he said there are 9,976 Nigerian trained doctors presently practicing in the country.
MDCN
MDCN is the agency that registers and regulates the medical profession in Nigeria.
The agency, as part of its duty, is tasked with the responsibility of registering newly inducted doctors, renewing licenses of doctors in the country, and also keeping records of those leaving the country.
It is also meant to have a record of foreign doctors who come into the country to work.