Poor Remuneration and the Declining Health Workforce in Nigeria: Areas for Legislative Intervention

Abstract

Nigeria's health sector is facing a severe crisis due to the mass exodus of health workers. This is driven primarily by poor remuneration and unfavourable working conditions. The country has witnessed a sharp increase in the migration of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to countries offering better pay and incentives. 2023 data released by the General Medical Council (GMC), shows that about 1,616 Nigerian-trained physicians moved to the United Kingdom in 2022. The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) also reported that over 9,000 Nigerian doctors left the country between 2016 and 2023, with an estimated 60% of newly trained doctors seeking employment abroad. Nigeria currently has about 55,000 licensed doctors to serve its growing population of over 200 million. This falls short of WHO’s recommended threshold of one doctor to 600 persons with 4 doctors attending to almost 10,000 patients. The mass emigration of health workers exacerbates the already weak healthcare system, leading to poor health outcomes and increased patient mortality. Addressing this challenge requires urgent legislative intervention to create the necessary condition to retain health workers and ensure a sustainable healthcare system. The brief hereby recommends among others that the National Assembly through its Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Primary, Senate and House Committee on Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases, and Senate and House Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders like the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) convene a public dialogue on the need to enact legislation to mandate competitive health workers salary scales in Nigeria.