Nigeria Faces Healthcare Exodus: 16,000 Doctors Seek Opportunities Abroad in Five Years

By Daniel Edu

In a concerning revelation, the Federal Government of Nigeria disclosed on Sunday that approximately 55,000 licensed doctors are currently serving the country’s growing patient population. However, a staggering 15,000 to 16,000 doctors have left the nation in the past five years, seeking better opportunities overseas, a phenomenon referred to as the “Japa condition.” Additionally, around 17,000 doctors have been transferred to various locations.

Addressing this issue on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, Prof Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, expressed deep concern over the brain drain syndrome, emphasizing that it has deprived the health sector of its most skilled professionals.

The ‘Japa’ phenomenon has witnessed a significant exodus of young physicians, health workers, computer entrepreneurs, and other professionals from Nigeria, all seeking more promising prospects abroad.

Despite having approximately 300,000 health workers in the country, Prof Ali Pate highlighted that only 55,000 are doctors. He emphasized the uneven distribution of healthcare professionals, with a concentration of high-skilled doctors in urban centers like Lagos and Abuja.

Pate stated, “There is a huge distribution issue. The population of doctors overall is about 7,600 doctors in Lagos and 4,700 or thereabout in Abuja. The doctor to population ratio in Abuja is 14.7 per 10,000 populations. These are numbers that you can verify. In Lagos, it is about 4.6, even though the average is 2.2 by 10,000.”

The minister stressed the need for a holistic perspective on the healthcare workforce, acknowledging the challenges not only with doctors but also with other essential cadres crucial to healthcare delivery. The exodus of trained professionals poses a significant threat to the nation’s healthcare system, and efforts to address distributional issues and create more opportunities are imperative for a sustainable and effective healthcare infrastructure.