Doctors and dentists under the aegis of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) have denied allegations made by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) accusing them and other medical professionals of accepting bribes from patients in exchange for treatment.
The NBS released a report stating that 42 per cent of health workers received bribes to expedite procedures, with 15 per cent also receiving gratifications to ensure the finalisation of procedures.
The report, entitled “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends – Third Survey on Corruption as Experienced by the Population”, was presented by the Data, Analytics and Statistics Section of the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The survey implementation, fieldwork, and data preparation were conducted by the NBS.
However, MDCAN, in response, described the NBS report as false and an attempt to denigrate and damage the image and reputation of medical professionals in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its President, Professor Mohammed Aminu Mohammed, MDCAN argued that although Nigerian doctors are among the lowest paid globally, they are hardworking and would not stoop to demanding bribes from patients before providing treatment.
The association argued that the report was akin to “giving a dog a bad name to hang it”, emphasising that doctors are not the only professionals working in public and private healthcare institutions.
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“To us, this unfounded allegation is baseless and totally unacceptable. We demand a complete retraction of the so-called report, which aims to portray Nigerian doctors in a bad light.”
Professor Mohammed also called on the NBS to provide access to the methodology and geographical areas covered in the survey that led to their conclusion.
“These are some of the issues that make us feel their conclusion is grossly unfair to Nigerian doctors, despite our hard work and resilience in remaining in the country to practise.”
He explained that doctors are the minority in most Nigerian healthcare institutions, and while patients and their families visit these facilities primarily to see doctors, they constitute only 20 to 30 per cent of the workforce.
MDCAN further argued that by the time patients have face-to-face consultations with doctors, they have already interacted with numerous other health and non-health workers. This, they argue, makes it implausible for doctors to be demanding bribes as alleged by the NBS.
According to MDCAN, if individuals, whether health or non-health workers, are found to be demanding and accepting bribes from patients and their families, they must be identified and punished by the relevant authorities.
“All we do in this country is sacrifice. It’s not that we cannot seek greener pastures elsewhere, but we choose to be patriotic and remain despite the numerous challenges,” the statement read.
“We shoulder the responsibilities of those doctors who have left the country. To then be labelled as corrupt bribe-takers is disheartening.”
MDCAN called on the NBS to provide transparency regarding its methodology and data. “If we discover that their methodology is sound and they have a significant sample size and geographical coverage to justify their conclusion, we can then look inward and make amends.”
“However, if the methodology and sample size are insufficient to reach such a far-reaching conclusion, we demand a retraction of the report and a written apology in both print and electronic media.” (Sun)