Health crisis: Lagos short of 40,000 doctors – Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday said the state faces a deficit of about 40,000 doctors and another 40,000 nurses, while its health sector requires at least N100bn above current budgetary provisions to meet the needs of its growing population.

The governor also disclosed that more than 1.5 million residents had enrolled in the state’s health insurance scheme, Ilera Eko, as the government intensified efforts to build a sustainable healthcare system.

Sanwo-Olu spoke at the opening of the second Eko Health Convention held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The governor described the shortage of health workers and funding as the two biggest challenges confronting the state’s healthcare system, warning that donor funding for disease control was shrinking.

“Lagos needs about 40,000 doctors to serve this population properly. We have about 7,000. We need roughly 40,000 more nurses. Every doctor in Lagos today is, in effect, doing the work of 10,” he said.

He added, “The second gap is money. There is a shortfall of at least N100bn between what our health budget provides and what this system genuinely requires.

“Donor financing, which supported much of our disease control for two decades, is contracting sharply and will not return in its old form.”

Despite the challenges, the governor said the state had begun addressing the workforce deficit through aggressive recruitment, improved welfare packages and plans to establish a University of Medicine and Health Sciences.

“We have recruited aggressively, and last month opened clinical recruitment across all twenty-nine of our secondary facilities.

“We have built accommodation for health workers. We are improving conditions to slow the departures and, increasingly, to attract colleagues back,” he said.

On health insurance, Sanwo-Olu said the state’s compulsory social health insurance policy had continued to expand coverage since the domestication of the National Health Insurance Authority Act.

“Today, more than one and a half million Lagosians are enrolled in Ilera Eko.

“As at the end of May this year, the figure stood at 1,502,994. More than half are women.

“And utilisation is rising, which tells us something important: that coverage is translating into actual care and not merely into cards in wallets,” he said.

The governor said the Lagos State Health Management Agency’s Assistance in Distress programme had saved 18 lives since it became operational in March.

“Since it became operational in March, that programme has saved 18 lives… Road traffic injuries, surgical emergencies, obstetric crises, strokes. Eighteen people who are alive because the system did not stop to ask whether they could afford to be,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu also said the government was deploying technology to improve healthcare delivery through the Lagos Smart Health Information Platform, which is currently being implemented across public health institutions.

According to him, the platform will enable patients’ medical records to be accessed seamlessly across healthcare facilities, improve disease surveillance and support evidence-based planning.

He added that the government was also investing in artificial intelligence and digital innovation to strengthen diagnosis, medical imaging and health service delivery.

The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to building institutions rather than projects, insisting that reforms such as Ilera Eko, the health districts and the digital health platform must endure beyond his tenure.

“We have kept our promises. Now we are building the systems that will keep them long after us,” he said.(Punch)