The Federal Government has started putting into action a new national policy focused on managing the migration of healthcare workers.
The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Bala Audu, said that as part of this new plan, the government has launched a housing scheme for healthcare workers across Nigeria.In August 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved this policy to tackle the many problems affecting Nigeria’s health workforce.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, explained that this policy is not just a reaction to the large number of healthcare workers leaving the country. It’s a full plan to manage, control, and eventually reverse this trend.
The main points of the policy are: giving special benefits to health workers in rural or hard-to-reach places, making it easier for them to get mortgages so they can buy homes, cars, and other essentials, and regularly checking and improving their pay, benefits, pensions, and allowances by working with other government departments.
Prof. Audu spoke about the steps being taken to address the shortage of health workers, which is largely caused by the “Japa” trend—Nigerians leaving the country for better opportunities abroad. He said the government has introduced two major solutions.
The first solution is the Health Workforce Retention Policy. This aims to improve the working and living conditions of healthcare workers to encourage them to stay in Nigeria. Now, this policy is starting to be implemented.
One example is the “Renewed Hope Medical City” project. Under this plan, doctors, nurses, and other health workers will be able to get homes at affordable mortgage rates, which they can pay back over 20 to 30 years.
This is a new and promising approach to supporting healthcare workers. Prof. Audu also noted that discussions are ongoing with the government about raising salaries and providing better transport, and he believes agreements will be reached soon.
The second part of the plan is to train more healthcare professionals. The government has increased the capacity of universities and other institutions to train more doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other health workers.
Prof. Audu admitted that it may take up to five years before we see real results from these efforts. However, he stressed that starting now is crucial to prevent things from getting worse.
He praised the government for taking both short-term and long-term actions to fix the problem, even though the situation is not yet perfect. He also said that a list is already being made of healthcare workers who will get the new homes.
Dr. Tope Osundara, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, added that the Medical City project is a joint effort with the Health Minister, Prof. Pate, and the Minister of Housing, Ahmed Dangiwa.
He said the Minister of Housing has also approved a special “Residency Village” for doctors in training, and work is currently ongoing on that project.
