Nigeria Loses 16,000 Doctors In 5 Years Amid Brain Drain Crisis

Eko Hot Blog reports that Nigeria is grappling with a severe brain drain crisis in its healthcare sector, losing a staggering 16,000 doctors in the last five years, according to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate.

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In a recent interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Pate revealed that the country currently has only 55,000 licensed doctors to cater to the growing population’s healthcare needs, following the exodus of health professionals to hospitals and facilities abroad.

“There are about 300,000 health professionals working in Nigeria today in all cadres. I am talking about doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and others. We did an assessment and discovered we have 85,000 to 90,000 registered Nigerian doctors. Not all of them are in the country. Some are in the Diaspora, especially in the US and UK. But there are 55,000 licensed doctors in the country,” Pate stated.

The minister acknowledged the brain drain phenomenon, known as ‘Japa,’ which has seen a generation of young doctors, health workers, tech entrepreneurs, and professionals abandon Nigeria for greener pastures abroad. “In the last five years, we have lost about 15,000 to 16,000 and about 17,000 had been transferred,” he revealed.

Pate emphasized that the brain drain syndrome has robbed the health sector of its best hands, affirming that the government is doing its best to expand the training scheme and motivate others who chose to stay back and serve their fatherland.

“The issue overall, in terms of health professionals, is that they are not enough. They are insufficient in terms of the skills mix. Can you believe most of the high skilled professional doctors are in Lagos, Abuja and a few urban centres? There is a huge distribution issue,” Pate lamented.

However, the minister acknowledged that the Japa syndrome is a global phenomenon affecting other countries like India and Pakistan. “Now to the Japa you talked about, it is not only limited to Nigeria. It is a global phenomenon. Other countries don’t have enough. They are asking to take more. It is not only in Nigeria. It is happening in India, Philippines and other parts of Africa,” he said.

Pate highlighted the government’s efforts to address the crisis, including expanding training programs, improving work environments, and encouraging better salaries and incentives to retain healthcare professionals. “We are beginning to take steps to expand the training and work environment, taking some steps to encourage salaries and incomes commission to do certain things that will encourage them to feel at home,” he stated.

The minister also acknowledged the dedication of those who chose to stay, citing the example of the head of the ICU at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, who, despite losing four colleagues, remained committed to serving his country. “He said, ‘Look, this is my country. I want to serve because health is a sector where there’s inherent motivation in those who select to go in there.’ People don’t just go in there because they want to have a job. They go because they’re intrinsically motivated and we have to recognise and tap into that,” Pate quoted.

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Addressing the issue of excessive working hours for junior doctors, Pate stated, “But even the issue of working hours that has come about recently, particularly for the junior doctors, is being addressed. This is because when some of their colleagues leave and they remain at home, the burden has not reduced. And so they work extremely hard. We’ve listened to that. We are looking at how we can alleviate that and with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, we are looking at how within the code of ethics and the guidelines for the physician to provide some safeguards to ensure they are treated as valuable assets so they are not burnt out.”

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