FG: 16,000 doctors left Nigeria in 7 years

The Federal Government has disclosed that over 16,000 Nigerian doctors left the country in the last five to seven years to seek greener pastures in other countries.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, disclosed this while speaking at the seventh annual capacity building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa in Abuja on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.

Pate added that the doctor-to-population ratio is now 3.9 per 10,000 in Nigeria, while the estimated cost of training one doctor exceeds $21,000.

The minister stated that nurses and midwives who left Nigeria have also thinned the numbers healthcare workers in the country.

Pate said: “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.

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“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.”

The minister, however, urged African leaders to lead in forging a new global compact on health workforce mobility – anchored in pan-African training and accreditation standards; shared planning tools, evidence, and data; continental negotiating platforms with destination countries; and sustained investments in the people who care for the masses.

The Star