Brain-drain | Nigeria Health Watch

By Nigeria Health Watch | October 3, 2025

Health Workers’ Impossible Workloads Are Deepening Nigeria’s Doctor-Patient Crisis

Ibukun Oguntola and Anwuli Nwankwo (Lead writers) On September 1st, 2025, the medical community and Nigerians were shaken by the tragic news of the passing of Dr. Femi Rotifa, a Resident Doctor in the Department of Surgery at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH). Dr. Rotifa died while on call duty, an incident widely […]

24 Nov

Sustaining the Diaspora Brain Gain through Policies and Private Sector Collaboration

By Nigeria Health Watch | November 24, 2023

Nigeria, like many other countries, has been experiencing a health worker migration crisis which is posing a challenge to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. Migration is a natural human occurrence, and low- and middle-income (LMICs) countries have benefitted from health worker migration through the receipt of remittances, […]

21 Feb

Returning to Heal: How Regions Healthcare is Improving Access to Quality Care in Imo State and Beyond

By Nigeria Health Watch | February 21, 2023

There is a reverse side to Nigeria’s medical brain drain. Healthcare professionals from the diaspora are showing their readiness to come back home and establish medical facilities. Dr Chinonso Egemba and Regions Healthcare are excellent examples of what it is like to take advantage of this ‘brain gain’ to support the growth of Nigeria’s health […]

28 Nov

Doctors for Change: From a WhatsApp Group to a Movement

By Nigeria Health Watch | November 28, 2022

It can be quite devastating when your doctor tells you that the specialist care you urgently need is not available in Nigeria. I have been there before, so I know what it feels like. First you count the cost of treatment — including travel — converting naira into dollars, dirham, pounds, or euro. Then you worry about the emotional […]

21 Sep

For Want of a Better Life: Still on Nigeria’s Medical Brain Drain

By Nigeria Health Watch | September 21, 2022

By Dr Tanimola Owolabi (Lead Writer) Editor’s Note: Dr Tanimola Owolabi is a senior registrar, Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. As part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a ‘Residency and Post Graduate Training Posting’ signed with the Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Ilorin Teaching […]

19 Jan

Fire on the mountain: How Private Hospitals in Nigeria Can Respond to the Medical Brain Drain

By Nigeria Health Watch | January 19, 2022

By Ayoola Oladipupo (Lead Writer) Editor’s Note: In today’s Thought Leadership Piece, Ayoola Oladipupo, an early career consultant with an interest in private sector engagement for African development, particularly in the healthcare sector, writes on the effects of the medical brain drain on private hospitals in Nigeria and shares insights on how private hospitals can […]

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