Journal article icon

Journal article

The COVID-19 pandemic and health workforce brain drain in Nigeria

Abstract:
Over the years, the Nigerian healthcare workforce, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists have always been known to emigrate to developed countries to practice. However, the recent dramatic increase in this trend is worrisome. There has been a mass emigration of Nigerian healthcare workers to developed countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the push factors have been found to include the inadequate provision of personal protective equipment, low monthly hazard allowance, and inconsistent payment of COVID-19 inducement allowance on top of worsening insecurity, the pull factors are higher salaries as well as a safe and healthy working environment. We also discuss how healthcare workers can be retained in Nigeria through increment in remunerations and prompt payment of allowances, and how the brain drain can be turned into a brain gain via the use of electronic data collection tools for Nigerian health workers abroad, implementation of the Bhagwati's tax system, and establishment of a global skill partnership with developed countries.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

Actions

Access Document

Files:
Publisher copy:
10.1186/s12939-022-01789-z

Authors

More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Nuffield Department of Population Health
Sub department:
Clinical Trial Service Unit
Oxford college:
Linacre College
Role:
Author
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-9483-6188
More by this author
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-4718-8931


Publisher:
BioMed Central
Journal:
International Journal for Equity in Health More from this journal
Volume:
21
Issue:
1
Article number:
174
Place of publication:
England
Publication date:
2022-12-05
Acceptance date:
2022-11-10
DOI:
EISSN:
1475-9276
Pmid:
36471333


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
1652009
Local pid:
pubs:1652009
Deposit date:
2025-02-14
ARK identifier:

Terms of use


Views and Downloads






If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record

TO TOP