Health minister says it will take Nigeria about 120 years to acquire the necessary number of doctors

NIGERIA’S education  minister Mallam Adamu Adamu  has declared that it would take the country about 120 years to have the necessary number of medical doctors required to get the health sector functioning at full capacity.

To provide adequate healthcare, the World Health Organisation (WHO) prescribes one doctor for every 600 members of the population. However, Nigeria’s doctors to patients ratio of 1:2,500 falls way below the global recommendation and is growing worse by the day as about 2,000 trained physicians leave the country annually.

Speaking over the weekend during the maiden matriculation of the Federal University of Health Sciences in Otukpo Benue State, Mallam Adamu said he hoped the university would help bridge this gap. He added that the university will act as a catalyst, through training, research and innovation for the effective utilisation, exploitation, and conservation of Nigeria’s natural, economic and human resources.

Mallam Adamu said: “Based on the existing production rate, it will take Nigeria about 120 years to have the number of doctors she needs, assuming all our doctors remain in the country.”