Nigeria Raises Alarm Over 122,696 Shortfall In Primary Healthcare Workforce

Federal Government says Nigeria needs N4.55 billion to plug critical staffing gaps in primary healthcare facilities.

The federal government has said it needs three years to recruit the 122,696 health workers needed to fill vacant positions in Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities across 26 states nationwide.

It also said it requires an estimated N4.55 billion over the period to fill the vacancies.

The Human Resource for Health and Project Management Lead at the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Coordination Office, Zaiyanatu Umar, disclosed this at the weekend in Abuja during the 15th Expanded Ministerial Oversight Committee meeting on national healthcare implementation.

Umar said the estimate followed an analysis of baseline data submitted by 26 verified states that self-reported their staffing levels against the Primary Health Care Minimum Staffing Standards during the SWAp recruitment assessment exercise.

“The baseline data received from SWAp was based on the recruitment tool that was developed.

“This was majorly to push forth on the HOPE-GOV 5.2 Disbursement-Linked Indicator (DLI), which spoke around ensuring a quality healthcare workforce and availability across the different levels,” she said.

The World Bank-supported HOPE-GOV Programme rewards states for improving governance, financial management, and service delivery across Primary Health Care and basic education systems nationwide.

Under Disbursement-Linked Indicator 5.2, participating states focus on recruiting, mapping, and deploying essential Primary Health Care workers to underserved communities, thereby strengthening equitable access to quality healthcare services across Nigeria.

She said assessments showed that 220,755 Primary Health Care positions were required across participating states, but only 98,059 were occupied, leaving 122,696 vacancies requiring urgent recruitment to improve healthcare delivery nationwide.

Umar added that participating states averaged 7.5 Primary Health Care workers per 10,000 population, while 55.6 per cent of required staffing positions were vacant across the surveyed facilities.

She said the South-east recorded the most severe staffing shortages, with a 73 percent workforce gap and only 1.9 Primary Health Care workers per 10,000 people across the assessed facilities.

According to her, the North-west followed with a 70.9 per cent workforce gap and 5.8 workers per 10,000 population, while the South West recorded a 59.3 per cent staffing deficit.

She said the North-Central region recorded a moderate workforce gap of 49.5 percent, with 8 Primary Health Care workers available for every 10,000 people across the participating states during the assessment.

Umar added that the South-South recorded a 46.8 percent staffing gap, while the North-East recorded a 33.9 percent deficit, highlighting persistent shortages across Nigeria’s healthcare system.

“South-East facilities are thinly staffed on every available measure, unlike the North, where state and LGA payrolls add staff.”

She, however, explained that the staffing gap calculations excluded 13 states, while the Performance Management Task Team was finalising a Human Resource for Health scorecard to strengthen accountability and performance.

The National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee Coordinator, Dr Emuren Doubra, said N2.41 billion had been disbursed to states and federal tertiary health facilities for emergency treatment interventions since 2023.

Doubra said the intervention had benefited more than 130,000 patients, while the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System disbursed N1.49 billion to tertiary health facilities between January 2023 and May 2026.

He said third-quarter priorities include expanding emergency medical operations from 32 states to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as expanding emergency response coverage across underserved communities.

According to Doubra, the committee also plans to expand Rapid Emergency Services and Medical Ambulance Teams coverage from 139 Local Government Areas to 172 before year-end.

Executive Director of the Country Coordinating Mechanism, Dr. Ibrahim Tajudeen, said Nigeria had submitted its Global Fund Grant Cycle Eight funding request for review as part of ongoing health financing reforms.

Tajudeen said the Global Fund allocated 791.6 million dollars for Grant Cycle Eight, compared with 933.1 million dollars under the current Grant Cycle Seven funding arrangement for Nigeria’s health programmes.