The Guest Lecturer at the 5th Oladipo Akinkugbe Distinguished Lecture, Professor Thadius Ijadunola, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s healthcare system, warning that the country’s worsening health workforce crisis poses a serious threat to national health security and sustainable development.
Delivering the lecture titled: ‘Reimagining the Nigerian Healthcare System: Leadership, Research and Innovation for the Future’, Ijadunola, a Professor of Community Medicine at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ike-Ife, described the mass migration of healthcare professionals and the retirement of experienced personnel as a “double depletion” that is weakening healthcare delivery and eroding future leadership capacity within the sector.
In a statement by the Public Relations Officer, University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, Isaac Oluyi, Ijadunola stressed that reversing the trend would require bold policy decisions, sustained investment and coordinated action by governments, healthcare institutions, development partners and other stakeholders.
“The health workforce attrition crisis constitutes an existential threat to health security and institutional resilience. The simultaneous loss of younger professionals through migration and experienced workers through retirement creates a ‘double depletion’ effect, weakening both current service delivery and future leadership capacity,” Ijadunola said.
