The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) says only 58,000 doctors renewed their annual practice licence out of the 130,000 registered doctors in the country.

MDCN deputy registrar Victor Kolawole disclosed this at the induction of the 2022/2023 Batch B Medicine and Surgery graduates of the Edo State University, Uzairue, on Friday.

Mr Kolawole said, “Since inception in 1963, we presently have over 130,000 registered doctors in Nigeria.

“However, as you know, because of the increase in the migration of doctors out of the country, we have about 58,000 doctors who renewed their annual practice licence in 2023 and they are those that are fit to practice in Nigeria.”

He frowned at doctors going abroad for greener pastures and appealed to the new medical graduates to stay back and practice their profession in the country.

He said, “By this induction of 20 new doctors into the health workforce, we hope that other institutions will follow suit even as the government said that the quota should be increased in all our training centres.

“However, the doctors must meet the requirements to earn those increase in quota. We will partner them to ensure that they met those requirements and as we try to ensure that, standard must be upheld.”

He admonished the new medical practitioners to uphold the sanity of the profession and be law-abiding, as the council is mandated to regulate practitioners’ activities and punish offenders.

(NAN)