NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, January 2, 2015

Nigeria would require about $51 billion (10 times of public health expenditure in 2012) to catch up with more advanced health systems in developed economies including Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries by 2030, according to a report of the World Economic Forum (WEF)and Boston Consulting Group, the world’s leading advisor on business strategy.

While the healthcare systems of Nigeria and other emerging economies struggle to satisfy demand for basic health services, reduce the incidence of preventable communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, etc. and the cost of developing their health systems, Nigeria would need over 700,000 additional doctors to reach OECD levels by 2030, the report stated.

With the drivers of demand and supply for health services in emerging economies more complex and diverse than in developed economies, poor basic health combine with violence and environmental factors in Nigeria to create strong demand for medicare at the same time that weak infrastructure and delivery systems limit supply.

According to the report “Nigeria currently has roughly 14 percent of the number of doctors per capita of OECD countries. To catch up, Nigeria would need approximately 12 times as many doctors by 2030, requiring, under current training models, about $ 51 billion (or 10 times current annual Nigerian public health spending).