The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has come out to oppose the proposed five-year compulsory service for medical and dental practitioners which is currently being considered at the National Assembly.

Last Thursday a bill seeking a minimum of five years for doctors to practice in the country before being granted a full licence passed second reading at the House of Representatives.

Disturbed by the mass exodus of healthcare workers leaving Nigeria for greener pastures abroad, Honourable Ganiyu Johnson (APC/Lagos) who sponsored the bill said it seeks to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004, to address the brain drain in the Nigerian health sector.

However, speaking on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York the NMA President, Dr. Ojinma Uche, said the bill is not the solution to the pending crisis in the nation’s healthcare system.