FG raises medical and nursing schools’ enrolment to 64,000 to make up for workers lost to migration

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate said the enrolment quota in medical, nursing, and other health professional schools has been increased from 28,000 to 64,000 yearly.

Prof Pate said this on Friday,  May 24, at the sectoral ministerial press briefing to mark the first anniversary of President Bola Tinubu in office in Abuja.

Pate said, “We have doubled the intake, the enrollment, the quotas of medical schools, nursing schools, and other health professionals’ schools from an enrollment target of 28,000 a year to 64,000 now.

“That is just the first step, the education sector will have to play its role. The states will have to play in to improve the infrastructure, the training, and the tools to produce more healthcare workforce because we need to produce more healthcare workforce given that we’re losing some so that we can serve the population of this country.”

On the Primary Health Care Centres, the minister noted that at least 1,400 centres can now provide skilled birth attendants.

According to him, more than 2,400 health workers – doctors, nurses, and midwives are been recruited in facilities to provide essential health services to Nigerians in rural areas.

He also highlighted that the Federal Government has disbursed the first tranche of N25bn of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and the National Health Insurance Authority.

“We put a condition that states that will access those have to comply with the fiduciary guidelines that have been provided, responding to lapses that have been observed over here so that the resources go to Nigerians.

“Twenty-three states have received those funds, and I believe that the rest of the states are just about to complete and receive their financing to channel through the PHCs.”

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tunji Alausa had in October 2023 said the government had put in place strategies to increase admissions into medical and dental institutions.

Dr Alausa noted that the 3,000 doctors produced annually in Nigeria was inadequate.

He said the mass exodus of licensed doctors and other health professionals to more developed countries would be discouraged by making the healthcare environment more attractive.