A total of 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last five to seven years in pursuit of better opportunities abroad, according to Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate.

Speaking in Abuja at the seventh annual capacity building workshop of the Association of Medical Council of Africa (AMCOA), Pate described the mass exodus of healthcare professionals as a growing crisis that is severely affecting Nigeria’s health system.

He revealed that the doctor-to-population ratio in Nigeria has declined to 3.9 per 10,000 — well below the recommended global benchmark — which the cost of training a single doctor in the country is estimated to exceed $21,000.

This, he said, represents not only human resources challenge but also a significant financial loss to public investment.

“The migration of health professionals from developing countries is not new, but it has accelerated in recent years.

“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”.