Japa: Only 55,000 Doctors Left to Serve 220 Million Nigerians, Medical Experts Raise Alarm

…16,000 Doctors Emigrated in Five Years

Medical experts have raised concerns over Nigeria’s worsening healthcare workforce crisis, revealing that only about 55,000 doctors are currently practicing in the country despite a population exceeding 220 million.

The alarming figures were disclosed at the Ordinary General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital (FNPH), Yaba, Lagos, where stakeholders warned that the continued migration of healthcare professionals is crippling service delivery, particularly in the mental health sector.

The conference, themed “Too Few Doctors, Too Many Patients: The Consequences of Manpower Shortage on the Mental Well-being of Nigerians,” highlighted the growing impact of the “Japa” phenomenon on healthcare access and quality across the country.

According to the experts, more than 16,000 Nigerian doctors have emigrated over the past five years, further worsening an already critical manpower shortage and placing immense pressure on the few professionals left in the system.

Speaking on the development, President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Bala Audu, represented by Prof. Omoti Ernest, said although the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has registered over 130,000 doctors, only about 55,000 remain actively engaged in medical practice within the country.

He noted that the situation translates to approximately one doctor serving between 3,600 and 4,000 Nigerians, a figure far below the World Health Organisation’s recommended ratio of one doctor to 600 people.

“This highlights the severe shortage of medical personnel and the enormous strain on healthcare delivery nationwide,” he said.

Ernest attributed the exodus of healthcare professionals to poor remuneration, inadequate working conditions, insecurity, limited career advancement opportunities, and poor investment in healthcare infrastructure.

He warned that the departure of thousands of doctors and other healthcare workers has resulted in severe staff shortages, burnout among those remaining, longer waiting times for patients, and declining quality of care, especially in public hospitals and underserved communities.

To reverse the trend, he urged the Federal Government to improve welfare packages, invest in modern healthcare infrastructure, expand specialist training opportunities, and create attractive career progression pathways for medical professionals.

Also speaking, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Dr. Yesir Kareem, described the situation as particularly devastating for mental healthcare delivery.

According to him, more than 40 million Nigerians are currently living with mental health disorders, yet approximately 85 per cent have no access to professional mental healthcare services.

“Only about 55,000 doctors remain to serve a population of over 220 million Nigerians. The shortage of psychiatrists and mental health specialists has reached a critical level,” he said.

Kareem disclosed that over 94,000 doctors and nurses have left Nigeria since the migration trend intensified, citing poor remuneration, delayed salaries, excessive workloads, inadequate facilities, insecurity, and limited professional development opportunities as major push factors.

He warned that untreated mental illnesses contribute significantly to family instability, substance abuse, unemployment, delayed diagnoses, and premature deaths, while also costing the country billions of naira annually in lost productivity.

President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), Dr. Veronica Nyamali, described the manpower shortage as a national crisis, noting that consultants are increasingly forced to perform duties that should ordinarily be handled by junior doctors due to persistent vacancies.

“There are gaps everywhere. Work that should be done by four psychiatrists is now being handled by one or two people. Those we train continue to leave the country, creating shortages at every level of care,” she lamented.

Nyamali revealed that Nigeria currently has fewer than 150 psychiatrists serving its entire population, a development she said is making mental healthcare increasingly expensive and inaccessible, particularly in rural communities.

“When specialists become scarce, services become more expensive and access becomes more difficult. Patients often have to travel long distances to receive treatment, which undermines the goal of universal health coverage,” she said.

She further linked the growing mental health burden to worsening economic hardship, insecurity, unemployment, kidnappings, substance abuse, and other traumatic experiences confronting many Nigerians.

According to her, the country’s shrinking mental health workforce has also coincided with reduced access to newer psychiatric medications, as some pharmaceutical companies have scaled down operations or exited the Nigerian market.

The APN President expressed concern that many Nigerians now rely on traditional and faith-based healers due to the shortage of specialists, though she noted that psychiatrists are increasingly collaborating with such groups to discourage harmful practices and encourage proper referrals.

President of ARD, FNPH Yaba, Dr. Okuwoga Temitope, said the shortage of doctors has become a major threat to access to quality mental healthcare in Nigeria.

“As mental health professionals, we witness first-hand the widening treatment gap, the burden on already stretched healthcare workers, and the impact these shortages have on access to quality mental healthcare for Nigerians,” he said.

Temitope added that many resident doctors are battling burnout, stress, anxiety, and depression due to overwhelming workloads arising from persistent manpower shortages.

At the end of the conference, participants called on federal and state governments to improve remuneration, strengthen welfare packages, expand specialist training programmes, improve working conditions, and increase investment in mental healthcare.

They also advocated the integration of mental health services into primary healthcare centres, wider deployment of telepsychiatry services, and intensified public awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and encourage early treatment.

The association further urged the management of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, to fast-track the enrolment of newly employed resident doctors on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to prevent salary delays and financial hardship.

While commending the hospital’s Medical Director, Dr. Olugbenga Owoeye, for restoring public electricity supply to the Yaba and Oshodi facilities after a prolonged outage, the doctors called for more stable power supply to support patient care and residency training programmes.