The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has warned that inadequate budgetary allocation to healthcare is crippling public hospitals and driving doctors out of the country in search of better opportunities.

Speaking at its yearly general meeting and scientific conference in Lagos, themed “A Critical Appraisal of Nigeria’s Budgetary Allocation to Health: Negotiating for Better Medical Salary Scale and Relativity for Medical Doctors,” the Lagos State branch of the association lamented that the government’s failure to prioritise health financing has worsened the crisis in the sector.

Delivering the keynote lecture, Professor Edamisan Temiye, a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Lagos, stated that Nigeria has consistently failed to meet the 15 per cent minimum budgetary allocation to health, as agreed upon in the 2001 Abuja Declaration, and has remained stuck at 4 to 5 per cent for over a decade.

“Monetary allocation to health is grossly inadequate. The 15 per cent benchmark is supposed to be the minimum, yet we are running on about one-third of that to care for over 200 million people. The result is evident: our hospitals are poorly equipped, there is an acute manpower shortage, and our health insurance system is dysfunctional,” Temiye said.

He warned that persistent underfunding has worsened maternal and child mortality, reduced life expectancy, and left many hospitals struggling to function. “From 2015 to 2025, nothing changed. We remained at 4 or 5 per cent. Absolutely stagnant,” he added.

Temiye also linked the mass exodus of doctors to poor remuneration and unsafe work conditions. “If you triple the salary of doctors, at least half of those leaving will stay. But beyond pay, we need the tools to work. When the system collapses, patients die and doctors lose hope,” he said.

NMA First Vice-President, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, decried the worsening doctor-to-patient ratio, noting that one doctor in Nigeria now attends to about 10,000 people, far above the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 1:600. “It is overwhelming. Doctors are dying and falling ill because there is no proper welfare system or administrative support,” he said.

Renowned reproductive medicine expert, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, stressed that no country can achieve sustainable economic growth without first fixing its health sector. “A healthy nation is a productive nation. Any country that wants to progress must place its people first and health should be the top priority,” he said.

Chairman of NMA Lagos, Dr Babajide Kehinde, described Nigeria’s 4.2 per cent health budget as one of the lowest in Africa, noting that countries like Botswana and South Africa allocate between 7 and 8 per cent.

“This shows the government is not serious about health financing. If they cannot reach the 15 per cent benchmark, they should at least push to 8 or 9 per cent to improve coverage and save lives,” he said.