It’ll take Nigeria 120 years to have the required medical doctors – Education Minister

Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has decried the high level of brain drain in the health sector, saying it will take the country about 120 years to have the number of doctors it needs, if all Nigerian doctors remain in the country.

Adamu stated this on Friday, November 5, at the maiden matriculation ceremony of the Federal University of Health Sciences Otukpo (FUSHO), held at its temporary site in Otada, Otukpo LGA of Benue State.

According to the minister, “Statistics have shown that doctor-patient ratio in Nigeria falls far short of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, which stipulates ratio of one doctor to every 600 patients. This contrasts with the current 1:6000 ratio in Nigeria.

It will take Nigeria about 120 years to have the number of doctors it needs, assuming all our doctors remain in the country.”

The minister further lamented the quality of training, competencies and skills needed in the medical profession which he said had become problematic, “This is due to a combination of inadequate personnel and facilities. This was further exacerbated the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic which exposed the weak institutional capacity for disease control and surveillance in the country.”