Nigeria is facing a worsening health workforce crisis as the mass migration of medical professionals continues to strain the country’s healthcare system, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, has said. Speaking on Monday at the 2026 United Kingdom Global Health Summit at the Royal College of Physicians in London, Salako described the exodus, commonly referred to as “japa”—as a severe threat to Nigeria’s already overstretched health sector.
According to Salako, Nigeria has only about four doctors per 10,000 people, far below the World Health Organization’s recommended minimum of ten per 10,000. Citing UK data, he noted that 13,609 Nigerian health workers migrated there between 2021 and 2022, making Nigeria one of the largest sources of foreign-trained medical personnel. A 2023 survey by NOI Polls and Nigeria Health Watch found that 57 per cent of Nigerian doctors had actively considered leaving the country.
“Every doctor who leaves Nigeria represents a significant loss of invested public resources, often exceeding $200,000 per professional,” Salako said, highlighting the economic as well as human cost of the trend. He emphasized that addressing the crisis is a matter of global equity requiring international cooperation, including ethical recruitment practices and skills-sharing agreements.
Salako outlined government interventions, including expanding medical school admissions by 160 per cent between 2023 and 2025 and strengthening training for nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, and community health workers. The Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, built on the principles of “One Plan, One Budget, One Conversation,” aims to improve coordination, accountability, and financing across the sector.
The minister also stressed the importance of engaging Nigerian health professionals in the diaspora, estimated at over 150,000 globally. Seven diaspora associations across the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Australia, and South Africa will undertake coordinated medical missions in Nigeria between April and July, focusing on skills transfer and institutional support.
Salako concluded by calling for stronger global cooperation to address workforce shortages, noting, “No nation can solve the global health workforce crisis alone. Strengthening health systems in developing countries is not charity, it is global security.”
