Balqees Adeniji
Nigeria has lost over 15,000 medical doctors to foreign countries in the last seven years, a development that has deepened the country’s already strained healthcare system.
According to data compiled by Statisense from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, a total of 15,515 Nigerian doctors migrated between 2018 and 2024 in search of better opportunities abroad.
The report revealed a fluctuating but rising trend in emigration figures. In 2018, 1,551 doctors left the country. The number increased to 1,824 in 2019 but saw a slight dip to 1,242 in 2020, likely due to global travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the outflow resumed its upward trajectory in subsequent years with 2,607 doctors migrating in 2021, and 2,900 in 2022.
There was a notable drop in 2023, with 1,417 departures. But 2024 witnessed a record spike as 3,974 doctors left Nigeria, the highest figure in two decades.
Healthcare professionals have attributed the persistent brain drain to poor working conditions, meagre remuneration, insecurity, and limited career advancement opportunities within Nigeria’s public health sector.
The exodus has worsened the doctor-to-patient ratio in the country. While the World Health Organization recommends a ratio of one doctor to 600 people (or 17 per 10,000), Nigeria currently has only three doctors per 10,000 people.
Meanwhile, countries like the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada have continued to absorb Nigerian medical professionals into their systems, offering significantly better pay, career prospects, and working conditions.
Health policy analysts warn that unless urgent measures are taken to address the root causes of the mass migration, Nigeria’s health sector may continue to struggle with human resource shortages, jeopardising patient care and public health outcomes.
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