The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, revealed that more than 16,000 Nigerian doctors have relocated to other nations in search of better opportunities over the past five to seven years.
Pate noted that the ratio of doctors to the Nigerian population has fallen to 3.9 per 10,000, while the estimated expense for training a single doctor exceeds $21,000.
“But this trend is not just about people leaving. 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.”
He expressed concern that the departure of nurses and midwives has also reduced the overall number of healthcare workers nationwide.
The minister made this statement on Tuesday in Abuja, during the seventh annual capacity-building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa.
He said that an increasing number of Nigeria’s skilled healthcare professionals are eager to find employment abroad due to better economic prospects, improved working conditions, advanced training opportunities, and superior research facilities overseas.
He pointed out that the migration of healthcare professionals from developing nations is not recent, but its pace has intensified recently.
Pate called on Africa to take the initiative in establishing a new global agreement on health workforce mobility. This agreement should be based on pan-African training and accreditation standards, shared planning tools, evidence, and data, continental negotiating platforms with destination countries, and ongoing investments in the workforce that serves our communities.
