The FG has revealed its strategies to increase admission from 5,000 to 10,000 into medical and dental institutions from next academic session in order to double the population of medical and dental doctors.
It was disclosed on October 4th, 2023 at the induction ceremony of foreign-trained medical and dental graduates by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa in Abuja. It is worthy to note that the foreign-trained medical and dental graduates were supported fully by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
Alausa said that the rate at which licensed doctors and other health professionals move from Nigeria to more developed countries would be brought to nut by making the health care environment more attractive.
According to him, over 3,000 doctors are produced annually in Nigeria, yet it remain grossly inadequate, hence, the need to double the rate of production of health workers.
“Equally, we shall expand these opportunities to all other health professionals like pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, community health extension workers, radiographers, and others. Although, this will be in phases. We shall create room to produce more and excess because globally, there’s a shortage of health manpower, which has been estimated at a shortage of 18 million people,” he stated.
Alausa said his ministry would continue to advocate more funding for the health sector and increase the value chain to attract more international grants and funding.
