The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, has revealed that more than 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country over the last five to seven years, seeking better opportunities abroad. Speaking at the 7th Annual Capacity Building Workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA) in Abuja, Prof. Pate expressed concern over the increasing migration of healthcare professionals, describing it as a major strain on Nigeria’s already fragile health system.
He noted that the current doctor-to-population ratio in Nigeria stands at just 3.9 per 10,000, well below the global recommended minimum. Additionally, the cost of training a single doctor exceeds $21,000, representing a significant financial loss for the country when these professionals emigrate. Nurses and midwives are also leaving in large numbers, further depleting the nation’s healthcare workforce.
Prof. Pate attributed this trend to factors such as better economic prospects, advanced training, improved working conditions, and research opportunities abroad. He pointed out that while health worker migration isn’t new, its pace has quickened, leaving many rural communities critically underserved.
Despite these challenges, the Minister emphasized that this development offers an opportunity to rethink and reform workforce policies. He highlighted the National Policy on Health Workforce Migration, developed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, as a strategic step toward managing the migration responsibly. The policy focuses on retaining, motivating, and ethically managing health workers, expanding training capacity, supporting reintegration of professionals abroad, and building strong governance and real-time data systems.
Prof. Pate also called on African countries to champion a new global health workforce compact, anchored in pan-African standards, data sharing, regional planning tools, and continental negotiations with destination countries to address imbalances.
Also speaking, AMCOA President, Prof. Joel Okullo, stressed the importance of collaboration among African nations in addressing healthcare workforce mobility and enhancing regulation. He expressed optimism that the workshop would yield actionable strategies to strengthen healthcare systems across Africa, particularly in improving credentialing processes and data management.
The Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Dr. Fatima Kyari, welcomed participants, noting that it was Nigeria’s first time hosting the AMCOA workshop. She applauded the unity among African regulators in prioritizing patient safety.
In his remarks, Prof. Afolabi Lesi, MDCN Board Chair and Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, emphasized the need for healthcare professionals to uphold global standards while considering local realities. He identified fragmented inter-professional relationships as a key barrier to effective implementation and patient-centered care, urging a unified approach to healthcare delivery.
The AMCOA workshop serves as a platform for African health regulators to address shared challenges and develop strategies for building resilient, integrated healthcare systems across the continent.
