The minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, was recently quoted in the media as claiming that Nigeria, as a developing country, would be unlikely to fulfil the United Nations and World Health Organization’s requirement of one doctor for every 600 patients. This article is about the 10 States With Most Medical Doctors in Nigeria.
The minister also stated that Nigeria has enough doctors to meet the needs of the people, claiming that the issue of a doctor shortage stems from medical manpower not being deployed/distributed proportionately.
He claims that the majority of doctors in the country have abandoned rural areas in favour of practising in Abuja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt. Aside from locally trained doctors, foreign-trained doctors are also returning to Nigeria to work, according to Ngige. The minister said that Nigeria currently has “around 4000 plus” medical doctors, claiming that the shortage is due to uneven deployment.
What the numbers say
The 2020 Statistical Report on Women and Men in Nigeria was released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in August 2021. The number of medical doctors in each of the federation’s states is one of the report’s most relevant data (including the percentage of women among them).
The information came from the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, based on information seen by Nyscinfo.
10 States With Most Medical Doctors in Nigeria
Below is the list of 10 States with most medical doctors in Nigeria.
- Lagos – 2561
- FCT – 2523
- Rivers – 917
- Oyo – 772
- Edo – 727
- Kaduna – 711
- Kano – 632
- Delta – 554
- Anambra – 552
- Plateau – 538
Other State’s Numbers are:
- Osun – 536
- Enugu – 491
- Ogun – 478
- Kwara – 446
- Borno – 377
- Bayelsa – 359
- Benue – 332
- Cross River – 330
- Imo – 319
- Ondo – 293
- Abia – 289
- Gombe – 286
- Akwa Ibom – 278
- Katsina – 266
- Ekiti – 261
- Nasarawa – 258
- Bauchi – 243
- Kogi – 218
- Niger – 217
- Sokoto – 201
- Ebonyi – 184
- Adamawa – 147
- Kebbi – 144
- Zamfara – 137
- Yobe – 133
- Jigawa – 131
- Taraba – 86
According to the research, Nigeria had 6,713 medical practitioners who were not classified by state as of 2019. The country’s total number of doctors is estimated to be 24,640. However, according to a recent estimate attributed to the Nigeria Health Watch, about 35,000 people practise in Nigeria.
The 35,000 practising doctors were selected from a total of 80,000 doctors registered with the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, according to the report (MDCN).
Source: Nyscinfo