The Federal Government has expressed concern over the worsening shortage of health workers across Nigeria, revealing that more than half of the country’s required healthcare positions remain unfilled. The shortfall is placing increasing pressure on existing personnel and undermining healthcare delivery nationwide.
The government disclosed that baseline data collected from 26 states indicated a national health workforce gap of 55.6 per cent, with the South-East recording the most severe shortage at 73 per cent.
The findings were presented at the 15th Expanded Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) meeting in Abuja as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s health workforce under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
Presenting the report, Human Resource for Health and Project Management Lead at the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Coordination Office, Zaiyanatu Umar, said the workforce shortages were identified through data compiled by the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), and the SWAp Coordination Office.
Umar said the South-East remained the most underserved region, while the South-West recorded the strongest performance in health workforce distribution.
“The South-East is the most consistently underserved, with the highest gap rate nationally and the fewest staff per capita,” Umar said.
She added that the workforce deficit could widen further because key states, including Lagos and Rivers, had yet to complete the submission of their workforce data.
The presentation also highlighted significant shortages in critical health professions, including emergency medical technicians, general healthcare workers, and ambulance drivers.
To address the challenge, Umar said the government is developing a unified National Health Workforce Registry to harmonise personnel data across federal and state agencies.
According to her, the registry will enhance workforce planning, support evidence-based recruitment decisions, and provide a more accurate picture of staffing needs across the country.
“We are trying to optimise the use of existing workforce data across ministries, departments, and agencies so everyone is working with one harmonised system,” she said.
Umar also disclosed that a state-level performance scorecard is being developed to assess workforce management, strengthen accountability, and recognise states making meaningful progress in expanding and managing their health workforce.
Responding to the presentation, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said the Federal Government is exploring domestic funding mechanisms to recruit more health workers and reduce persistent staffing shortages.
Prof. Pate said the planned United States Government Memorandum of Understanding (USG MoU) includes provisions for co-financing the absorption of thousands of health workers previously employed through donor-funded programmes into government service.
“A chunk of it is to help absorb the thousands of health workers who were previously employed through USG programmes into government systems,” he said.
He noted that the initiative would provide a more sustainable approach to strengthening staffing across primary healthcare facilities nationwide.
The meeting also reviewed progress under the Nigeria Campaign Alignment and Synchronisation Tool (NCAST), an initiative designed to integrate multiple health campaigns into a single delivery framework, improve operational efficiency, and reduce the burden on frontline health workers.
According to the SWAp Coordination Office, the programme has reduced the number of standalone health campaigns by 35 per cent, helping to minimise duplication, improve coordination, and enhance service delivery.
Pilot implementation in Bauchi State recorded 112 per cent polio vaccination coverage, alongside an 85 per cent success rate across other integrated health interventions.
