Lagos Needs 80,000 More Health Workers to Avert Crisis – Sanwo-Olu Raises Alarm
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has raised an urgent alarm over the state’s healthcare workforce crisis, revealing that Lagos requires approximately 40,000 additional doctors and another 40,000 nurses to adequately meet the healthcare needs of its rapidly growing population. The governor made this disclosure on Thursday at the opening of the second Eko Health Convention held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. According to Sanwo-Olu, Lagos currently has only about 7,000 doctors in its workforce, a figure far below what is required to serve the state’s population, and he painted a stark picture of the current situation, stating that every doctor practising in Lagos today is effectively doing the work of ten people.
Beyond the severe manpower shortage, the governor identified inadequate funding as the second major challenge confronting the state’s health sector, disclosing a funding gap of at least N100 billion between what the state’s health budget provides and what the system genuinely requires. Sanwo-Olu also warned that donor financing, which has supported disease control programmes for nearly two decades, is contracting sharply and is unlikely to return in its old form, and this declining external support has further compounded the pressure on government resources.
Despite the workforce and funding challenges, the Federal Ministry of Health’s Q1 2026 health sector performance report showed Lagos recorded the highest skilled birth attendance rate in the country at 100 per cent, a significant achievement that underscores the state’s commitment to maternal health. However, the state also recorded 50 maternal deaths in the first quarter of 2026, up from 26 in the previous quarter, as well as the country’s highest neonatal death toll at 231, an increase from 127 in Q4 2025. The scorecard attributed the bulk of the state’s neonatal mortality reports to Lagos Island and Ikorodu local government areas, highlighting the need for targeted interventions in these communities. The report also showed Lagos spent N180.99 billion on health in 2025 out of a N216.71 billion budget, the highest health expenditure by any state during the period, reflecting the administration’s prioritisation of healthcare despite resource constraints.
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In response to the crisis, Sanwo-Olu said the state government has begun implementing measures to address the workforce deficit, including aggressive recruitment drives, improved welfare packages, provision of accommodation for health workers, and plans to establish a University of Medicine and Health Sciences to expand training capacity. According to the governor, the government recently opened clinical recruitment across all 29 secondary healthcare facilities in the state, and he emphasised that the administration is improving conditions to slow the departures and, increasingly, to attract colleagues back. The governor further stressed that Lagos was moving from delivering healthcare projects to building enduring systems that would guarantee quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare for generations, stating that access without excellence is merely a queue in a clinic within walking distance where the drugs have run out, while excellence without access is a showpiece that a mother in Ajegunle will never enter, and Lagos is not interested in either option.
On health insurance, the governor announced that enrollment under the state’s Ilera Eko health insurance scheme has exceeded 1.5 million residents, with the figure standing at 1,502,994 as of the end of May 2026, and women account for more than half of the beneficiaries with 54 per cent female and 46 per cent male, while residents aged 18 to 60 account for more than 62 per cent of enrollees. The governor noted that utilisation is rising, which indicates that coverage is translating into actual care and not merely into cards in wallets. He also disclosed that the Lagos State Health Management Agency’s Assistance in Distress programme has saved 18 lives since it became operational in March, providing emergency care to victims of road traffic injuries, obstetric crises, strokes, and surgical emergencies regardless of their ability to pay. In an emergency, the governor affirmed, a Lagosian should be stabilised first and asked about payment afterwards, reinforcing the administration’s commitment to compassionate healthcare delivery.
Sanwo-Olu further revealed that the state is leveraging technology through the Lagos Smart Health Information Platform, a digital health information exchange system being implemented across public health institutions, and the platform has reached about 30 per cent implementation covering general hospitals, teaching hospitals, and more than 300 primary healthcare facilities. The platform will enable seamless access to patients’ medical records, improve disease surveillance, and support evidence-based health planning, and the governor explained that when the record travels, the clinician sees the whole patient, and when the data comes together, the policymaker sees the whole city, allowing the system to move from reacting to anticipating. The government is also investing in artificial intelligence and other digital innovations to strengthen diagnosis, medical imaging, and healthcare delivery, and according to the governor, the state recently launched a Digital Health Innovation Challenge to encourage innovators to develop technology-driven solutions for health insurance, emergency response, sickle cell management, neonatal care, and medical research.
Speaking on healthcare infrastructure, Sanwo-Olu highlighted ongoing investments in new general hospitals, climate-smart primary health centres, a children’s hospital, and a mental institute at Ketu-Ejirin, and he also reiterated the government’s zero tolerance for quackery and substandard healthcare practices. The governor reaffirmed his administration’s long-term vision, stressing that ongoing reforms, including Ilera Eko, the health district system, and the digital health platform, are designed to outlive his tenure, and he declared that the administration has kept its promises and is now building the systems that will keep them long after the current leadership. Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, reaffirmed the State Government’s commitment to building a more accessible, affordable, and efficient healthcare system, with plans to position the state as a leading medical tourism destination in Africa, and he reiterated that the state government remains committed to achieving universal health coverage for all residents.