Lagos State Government has embarked on cutting-edge measures to arrest the dwindling number of doctors available in the State, as it recorded 33,000 shortage in the health sector.
The State Commissioner for Health Services, Prof Akin Abayomi, made this disclosure on Wednesday, at the 2025 ministerial briefing on the scorecard of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu/Dr. Obafemi Hamzat administration, held in Alausa, Ikeja.
The Commissioner said that according to World Health Organization, WHO standard, "it is expected that doctor to patients ratio is 1:200, but the state currently records 1 doctor to 5,000 patients, far below the WHO standard."
Abayomi stated that with over 20 million population, Lagos currently has 7,000 doctors, saying "We have a shortage of 33,000 doctors."
He added that Nigeria as a whole has a shortage of 300,000 doctors, saying not less than 16,000 doctors had left the country in recent years.
Despite the challenges, the commissioner stated that as a sub-national, "Lagos is putting healthcare initiative in place to tackle the gap."
With over 18,000 staff across primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities, Abayomi stated, "We are poised to tackle the challenges of healthcare in the State."
Similarly, the State is taking cognizance of cutting edge technology in its facilities, saying "We are planning strategically to address brain drain and increase brain gain. We have improved follow up funds into health sector."
He added, "We have turned the corner, we have been able to see reduction. We have seen diasporas coming to Lagos either permanently or coming and going.
"A lot of them are keying into our healthcare initiative. They have seen Lagos as the next frontier in meeting our target."
He further declared that going by the statistics given by the Federal Government, not less than 16,000 doctors have left the shores of Nigeria in search of the greener pastures.
Abayomi declared "the State Government is building climate resilient facilities, by taking into consideration the State unique topography.
"Many parts of Lagos are densely populated so the facilities are heavily built with concrete and others are built on sandfill. So when we build, we take all these into consideration."
The Commissioner also stated that the largest cancer centre in West Africa is located in Alausa, saying "it is a comprehensive and special health facility to take care of the cancer patients."
In addition, Abayomi said, "the State Government, will in the next 12 months inaugurate three massive secondary hospitals at Ojo, Lagos Island and Ketu-Ejirin."
Speaking on malaria disease, he urged residents to always go for test whenever they have symptoms of fever, saying "it is not every fever that is diagonized as malaria.
"In the next one or two years, we can say in Lagos that we have eliminated malaria. 99 cases of fever are not malaria, so people should carry out test and get doctor's prescription before buying drugs."
On maternal mortality, Abayomi noted that the state currently recorded 430 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
According to him, "For us in Lagos, this is an unacceptable number, and we've declared a zero tolerance on maternal death in the process of childbirth."
He added that the state's target is to bring the number down from 430 to 37 over the next 20 to 30 years.
The Commissioner also reiterated the state's commitment to improve healthcare, including increasing the number of healthcare professionals and introducing health insurance.
He reaffirmed the importance of digital strategy in healthcare, revealing plans to connect all healthcare facilities to a central platform for real-time data collection and policy decision-making.
"The state plans to establish a stand-alone University of Medicine and Health Sciences to exponentially increase the quality of healthcare professionals in Nigeria,"Abayomi stated.
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