Lagos Needs 33,000 More Doctors To Cater For Growing Population – Commissioner
Lagos State Government has disclosed that the state needs about 40,000 medical doctors to adequately cater for its growing population, but currently has only about 7,000 doctors in the system, leaving a deficit of more than 33,000 physicians.
Meanwhile, the State Government has reiterated its commitment to curbing the challenges of brain drain and facilitate brain gain through improved welfare, infrastructure and condition of living wage for doctors and healthcare workers in the State.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made the disclosure on Tuesday during the 2026 Ministerial Press Briefing, held at Alausa, Ikeja, to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.
According to Abayomi, the state required an additional 33, 000 health personnel to bridge manpower gaps in the health sector, describing the shortage of healthcare personnel as part of a broader global workforce crisis affecting many countries.
He said, “Nigeria has 40,000 doctors currently at a ratio of one doctor to 5000 population. Nigeria needs 300,000 new doctors while Lagos requires 40,000 additional doctors. Currently, Lagos has 7000. The gap for Lagos is 30,000 doctors and 40,000 nurses.”
Abayomi, described the shortage as part of a global phenomenon, but noted that Lagos was becoming increasingly attractive to healthcare professionals.
He continued: “For every doctor we have in Lagos, they are doing the job of ten.
To tackle brain drain, Abayomi said the government was implementing healthcare financing reforms, improving welfare and living conditions for medical personnel, and creating pathways for Nigerian doctors in the diaspora to return home.
He added that staff accommodation had been built in some hospitals, while doctors’ quarters in several general hospitals were undergoing renovation.
Abayomi stated; “To reduce the brain drain and facilitate brain gain, the Lagos State government is prioritising healthcare finance reform, improve the working conditions of health workers, improve the living conditions of health workers and facilitate the return of Nigerian doctors in diaspora.
“To achieve this, we are improving the service conditions at our health facilities with a view to improving the quality of life and working environment of our health workers.
“We recently completed the accommodations complex for 72 house officers at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH and Odan is ongoing.
“Also, staff quarter at Gbagada, Ojo and LASUTH are nearing completion. Moving forward, new medical facilities will have staff quarters in close proximity.”
The commissioner further disclosed that LASUTH currently has 120 specialists, while general hospitals across the state have about 250 specialists.
By 2052, Abayomi projected, Lagos state to become a top medical tourism destination with a mandatory health insurance to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
He also said infrastructure remained a key priority of the administration, adding that the state had developed a medical blueprint focused on sustainable and renewable designs for health facilities.
“We are making sure that the health sector is robust enough to manage everything that comes its way,” he said.
According to him, Lagos currently has 34 secondary and tertiary public health facilities, 325 Primary Healthcare Centres, about 3,500 private health facilities, and over 10,000 Community Pharmacies and Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors operating within the informal sector.
Abayomi said Lagos State remained one of Africa’s leading healthcare destinations, noting that the state is currently ranked eighth among top African cities for healthcare delivery and is striving to move into the top three.
He listed other cities on the ranking to include Cape Town, Pretoria, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Durban, Algiers, Tunis, Cairo and Casablanca.
