The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, said
Nigeria has lost over 16,000 doctors in the last five to seven years, a situation that has cost the country billions of naira, according to recent data.
The Minister stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at the seventh annual capacity-building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA).
Expressing alarm at the growing brain drain in healthcare, Professor Pate warned of its severe economic consequences for Nigeria’s medical system.
The public health expert revealed that Nigeria invests over $21,000 to train each doctor, making the mass migration of these professionals a costly drain on national resources.
“This trend is not just about people leaving,” the minister said. “It represents a fiscal loss. The estimated cost of training one doctor exceeds $21,000—a figure that reflects the magnitude of public financing walking out of our countries.
“It deeply affects our health systems—leaving many of our rural communities critically underserved.”
Doctor-to-population ratio falls
The minister noted that the doctor-to-population ratio in Nigeria has dropped to 3.9 per 10,000 people, far below the World Health Organisation’s recommended standard.
“In Nigeria alone, over 16,000 doctors are estimated to have left the country in the last five to seven years, with thousands more leaving in just the past few years. Nurses and midwives have also thinned in numbers. The doctor-to-population ratio now stands at around 3.9 per 10,000—well below the suggested global minimum,” he noted.
Mr Pate explained that the exodus is driven by a combination of factors, including better economic prospects, improved working conditions, access to advanced training, and more supportive research environments abroad.
He acknowledged that the migration of health professionals from developing to developed countries is not new, but said it has intensified in recent years, with more healthcare workers aspiring to practice outside Nigeria.
Despite the challenges, the minister said the situation offers an opportunity to rethink and reshape health workforce management policies.
He referenced the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration as part of the federal government’s broader efforts under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
“This policy is designed to address health workforce migration with dignity—dignity for health workers, for the country, and for the profession,” he said. “It is not a restrictive policy, nor is it one born out of resignation. It is evidence-based and data-driven.”
He explained that the policy aims to retain and motivate health workers still in Nigeria, establish ethical recruitment agreements with destination countries, expand training capacity, reintegrate Nigerian professionals abroad, and strengthen regulatory systems and data management.
Mr Pate acknowledged that the global health workforce shortage is at 18 million, and countries in the Global North face their human resource crises due to demography and other factors.
“But our response is based on stewardship—balancing the rights of health professionals to seek opportunities abroad with our duty to protect the integrity and viability of our national health system,” he said.
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