A new report by the United States Trade Administration has ranked Nigeria’s healthcare system as one of the weakest in Africa, exposing the country’s chronic underdevelopment and policy failures under Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The report, published on the agency’s official website, painted a bleak picture of the state of health infrastructure across Nigeria, describing it as “underdeveloped” and “lacking modern medical facilities.”
“Healthcare infrastructure in Nigeria is still underdeveloped and lacks modern medical facilities,” the report stated.
It noted that despite the nation’s vast human resources, the country’s health indicators remain among the poorest on the continent.
The report observed that Nigeria’s population continues to grow at a staggering 3.2 per cent annually, with an average of 5.5 live births per woman, and is projected to hit 400 million by 2050—making it the world’s fourth most populous nation.
According to the document, Nigeria is facing an acute shortage of medical personnel, with only about 23.3 doctors per 100,000 citizens—far below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 100 doctors per 100,000.
It attributed this to the mass exodus of healthcare professionals seeking better opportunities abroad.
The US agency also highlighted the massive financial drain caused by medical tourism. “Nigeria loses at least $2 billion every year to medical tourism, according to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). India accounts for more than half of this outflow,” the report added.
Beyond human capacity challenges, the report said the country’s hospitals are still burdened with outdated systems. “Most Nigerian hospitals still store patient records manually using traditional paper methods,” it observed.
The Trade Administration further revealed that Nigeria relies almost entirely on imported medical devices, with over 98 per cent of its healthcare equipment sourced from abroad.
Local production, it noted, is minimal and largely limited to basic consumables such as syringes.
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It criticised the country’s complex regulatory environment and weak enforcement mechanisms, stressing that “medical devices and pharmaceutical products must be registered with the NAFDAC before they can be imported into Nigeria.
This process can be painfully long and rigorous, involving the submission of several documents. Product counterfeiting is rampant, and rights enforcement is weak.”
The report concluded that Nigeria’s health sector remains constrained by inadequate funding, outdated regulations, and poor planning, warning that the system is incapable of supporting its rapidly expanding population unless urgent reforms are made.
The grim assessment comes at a time when Nigerian doctors are once again threatening industrial action over unpaid entitlements and poor working conditions.
With the US report now underscoring the dire state of the health system, many analysts say the Tinubu government faces growing criticism for failing to prioritise the country’s collapsing medical sector while citizens continue to seek treatment abroad.
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