16,000 doctors left Nigeria in seven years –

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, said over 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the last five to seven years to seek greener pastures in other countries.

Pate also said the doctor-to-population ratio is now 3.9 per 10,000 in the country, while the estimated cost of training one doctor exceeds $21,000.

This was as he lamented that nurses and midwives who left have also thinned the numbers healthcare workers in the country.

The minister disclosed this at the seventh annual capacity building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa in Abuja on Tuesday themed, “Integrated healthcare regulation and leadership in building resilient health systems.”