The Federal Government is implementing strategies to increase the population of medical and dental doctors from 5,000 to 10,000 in the next academic year.
This initiative, revealed by Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Health, aims to address the shortage of healthcare professionals and discourage the emigration of licensed doctors.
Alausa emphasized the need to make the healthcare environment more attractive to retain skilled professionals, particularly in light of the current exodus to more developed countries.
The announcement was made during the induction ceremony of foreign-trained medical and dental graduates by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria in Abuja.
With just over 3,000 doctors produced annually in Nigeria, Alausa highlighted the gross inadequacy and stressed the urgency to double the rate of production of health workers.
The plan extends beyond doctors, with intentions to provide more opportunities for other health professionals, such as pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, community health extension workers, radiographers, and others, albeit in phases.
Alausa indicated a global shortage of health manpower, estimated at 18 million people. To address this, the government plans to create room for producing more health professionals to meet both local and international demands.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health is committed to advocating for increased funding in the health sector and aims to enhance the value chain to attract more international grants and funding.
