Nigeria, April 9 -- Nigeria has lost over 16,000 doctors in the last five to seven years, a situation that has cost the country billions of naira, according to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at the seventh annual capacity-building workshop of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA), Mr Pate, a professor, expressed concern over the rising migration of healthcare workers and its economic impact on the health sector.

He said the estimated cost of training a single doctor in Nigeria exceeds $21,000, highlighting the fiscal damage of losing such a large number of trained professionals to other countries.

"This trend is not just about people leaving," the mini...