A staggering 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last five to seven years to seek greener pastures in other climes.

This frightening statistic was given yesterday by none other than the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate. Pate also said the doctor-to-population ratio is now 3.9 per 10,000 in the country, while the estimated cost of training one doctor exceeds $21,000.

This was as he lamented that nurses and midwives who left have also thinned the number of healthcare workers in the country. The minister disclosed this at the seventh annual capacity building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa in Abuja yesterday themed: ‘Integrated healthcare regulation and leadership in building resilient health systems.’

According to him, an increasing number of Nigeria’s talented healthcare professionals aspire to work in other countries— driven by factors such as economic opportunity, better working conditions, more advanced training, and superior research environments abroad. He said 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.

The doctor-to-population ratio now stands at around 3.9 per 10,000—well below the suggested global minimum. “But this trend is not just about people leaving.

It represents a fiscal loss. The estimated cost of training one doctor exceeds $21,000—a figure that reflects the magnitude of public financing walking out of our countries. It deeply affects our health systems—leaving many of our rural communities critically underserved.”

He, however, emphasised that the phenomenon offers an opportunity to rethink and reshape the policies, to manage the valuable health workforce in ways that benefit our countries first and foremost.

He urged Africa to lead in forging a new global compact on health workforce mobility—anchored in pan-African training and accreditation standards; shared planning tools, evidence, and data; continental negotiating platforms with destination countries; and sustained investments in the people who care for our people.

The President of AMCOA, Prof Joel Okullo, stressed the importance of collaboration among African countries to tackle healthcare challenges and improve regulation and leadership across the continent.

The Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr Fatima Kyari, while welcoming participants to the event, noted that it was Nigeria’s first AMCOA workshop while commending the alignment of leadership towards the shared goal of patient safety.

The Board Chairperson of MDCN, Prof Afolabi Lesi highlighted the need for healthcare regulators to uphold global standards while adapting to local contexts. Lesi, who is also the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the workshop addressed the challenges of fragmented professional relationships that hinder implementation and compromise patient care.