Nigeria’s already fragile healthcare system is under severe strain as the mass migration of doctors and other medical professionals continues to worsen manpower shortages across the country, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, has revealed.
Salako raised the alarm on Monday while speaking at the 2026 United Kingdom Global Health Summit held at the Royal College of Physicians in London.
According to him, the ongoing exodus of Nigerian healthcare workers—popularly known as “japa”—has significantly depleted the country’s medical workforce, leaving hospitals overstretched and millions of citizens at risk of inadequate care.
“The global health workforce crisis is not a future threat but a present emergency,” Salako said. “Africa carries more than a quarter of the global disease burden but commands less than three per cent of the global health workforce.”
He disclosed that Nigeria currently has only about four doctors per 10,000 people—far below the minimum of 10 physicians per 10,000 population recommended by the World Health Organisation.
The minister noted that the crisis is particularly severe in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where shortages of doctors, nurses, midwives and other health professionals have reached alarming levels.
Citing data from the United Kingdom, Salako revealed that no fewer than 13,609 Nigerian health workers migrated to the UK between 2021 and 2022, making Nigeria one of the largest sources of foreign-trained medical personnel.
He also referenced a 2023 survey by NOI Polls and Nigeria Health Watch, which found that 57 per cent of Nigerian doctors had already taken concrete steps toward leaving the country in search of better opportunities abroad.
According to Salako, the development represents a massive loss of public investment.
“Every doctor who leaves Nigeria represents a substantial flight of invested public resources, often exceeding $200,000 in training costs. This effectively transfers resources from one of the world’s most resource-constrained health systems to wealthier nations,” he said.
Nigeria’s health sector has long been plagued by poor funding, decaying infrastructure and heavy reliance on out-of-pocket payments by patients, leaving millions without access to quality healthcare—especially in rural communities.
Despite a population exceeding 220 million, experts warn that continued migration of healthcare professionals could further cripple service delivery in public hospitals.
Salako, however, said the Federal Government under Bola Tinubu had introduced reforms aimed at addressing the crisis through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
He explained that the strategy, built on the principles of “One Plan, One Budget, One Conversation,” seeks to improve coordination, funding and accountability in the sector.
The minister also linked the crisis to broader global challenges, including economic instability and climate change, noting that projections by the International Monetary Fund show slower global growth in 2026, which could further limit healthcare spending.
He added that climate-related health risks are rising, citing data from the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, which indicates increasing heat-related deaths and worsening food insecurity worldwide.
Within Nigeria, environmental challenges such as desertification in the North, flooding in the South and pollution in oil-producing regions are contributing to disease outbreaks and displacement.
To mitigate the manpower crisis, Salako said the government has expanded training capacity, with medical school admissions rising by about 160 per cent between 2023 and 2025.
He added that authorities are also scaling up the training of nurses, pharmacists and laboratory scientists, while introducing task-shifting policies and strengthening community health worker programmes.
In addition, the government is seeking to tap into the expertise of Nigerian professionals in the diaspora.
Salako disclosed that seven Nigerian healthcare associations across the UK, the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia and South Africa will embark on coordinated medical missions to Nigeria between April and July.
He described the country’s diaspora health professionals—estimated at over 150,000 globally—as a “strategic asset” capable of bridging gaps in the domestic system.
The minister called for stronger international collaboration to address the global health workforce crisis, urging developed countries to adopt ethical recruitment practices in line with the WHO Global Code of Practice.
He also advocated bilateral agreements that would allow Nigerian health workers gain experience abroad while ensuring knowledge transfer back home.
“No nation can solve the global health workforce crisis alone,” Salako said. “Strengthening health systems in developing countries is not charity—it is global security.”