Lagos announces shortage of 30,000 doctors, after years of failing to heed warning from health professionals
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Lagos government has announced a shortage of 30,000 doctors in its hospitals – as well as significant vacancies for nurses, pharmacists, dentists, laboratory scientists, and other healthcare workers.
This comes after years of unsuccessful agitation from health professionals for federal and state government to improve the working conditions of healthcare providers, which has led to thousands of them seeking greener pastures abroad.
Lagos Health Commissioner Akin Abayomi announced the shortages during the official handover of key medical infrastructure to contractors for conversion into modern academic facilities.
He said the government’s response to the severe shortage of human resources for health, exacerbated by sustained emigration of medical professionals, necessitates the sourcing of modern academic facilities.
He explained that the expansion is part of a broader two-pronged strategy approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to mitigate the crisis, saying the first approach is to produce more healthcare professionals by increasing students’ intake, which requires substantial expansion of tertiary education infrastructure.
“The government has approved a phased expansion of infrastructure to accommodate an increased intake of students in medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and allied health sciences,” Abayomi said.
“Our target is to scale up yearly student admissions from 200 to 2,500 over the next five years.”
According to him, the second approach is to ensure that healthcare students receive quality training requiring accreditation from regulatory bodies.
Abayomi explained that, to achieve this, three critical requirements must be met: adequate space for training, a sufficient number of academic instructors, and access to a diverse patient population for hands-on clinical training.
Tertiary Education Commissioner Tolani Sule commended the initiative as a vital step toward addressing human capital deficit in the health sector.
“Lagos is land-constrained. So, we must maximise existing facilities. The Ministry of Health has graciously repurposed underutilised assets to expand medical education infrastructure,” he stressed, reiterating the government’s commitment to improving health education.
Lagos State University (LASU) Vice Chancellor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello said the expansion project is crucial for securing accreditation from health regulators.
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Chief Medical Director Adetokunbo Fabamwo described the project as a long-overdue response to the growing healthcare needs of Lagos.
And LASIAMA General Manager Adenike Adekanbi pledged that the agency would ensure high-quality project execution.
Read also:
Appeal Court declares detention of 12-yr-old boy illegal, upholds N5m SSS fine
