Kathmandu, February 9:

Students of medical science today expressed concern about the tendency of medical professionals of going abroad in search of better opportunities. A mechanism should be devised to arrest the drain of medical professionals, which is on the rise, they said.

Chudamani Giri, representative of the student chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Nepal (PSRN) said almost 50 per cent medical students go abroad soon after completing their course. This has created a dearth of medical professionals in the country, Giri said at a seminar on ‘Migration of Human Resources for Health’, organised by the PSRN. “The nation is investing its resources to produce medical professions, but it has not been able to make use of these professionals,” Giri said.

Hospitals and health centres in the country are facing a shortage of medical professions, depriving thousands of people of health services, Giri said.

He said most of his peers are unwilling to practice in the country because they do not get facilities that they could get in developed countries.

He said the government must come up with a plan to address this.

Although the World Health Organisation has said 200 doctors are needed for per 100,000 population, a recent government survey has shown that merely 85 doctors are available in the country for 100,000 people.

Prof Dr Ramesh Kanta Adhikari, former dean of the Institute of Medicine, said low salary, insufficient opportunities, lack of opportunities to hone skills and political condition of the country have been pushing medical professionals out of the country. Their dreams turn into reality in foreign land, he said.

The government must set up some mechanisms to bind fresh graduates to work in the country for at least two years and provide opportunities for higher studies to those who have worked in the country.

Agreeing upon the need to check the drain, Dr Sharad Onta, member-secretary of the Nepal Health Research Council, said medical professionals should also realise that it is their duty to serve the country.