By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Every doctor currently practising in Lagos State is, in effect, doing the work of ten, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has revealed, disclosing that the state faces a staggering deficit of about 40,000 doctors and another 40,000 nurses, with its health sector requiring at least N100 billion above current budgetary provisions to meet the needs of its growing population.
Sanwo-Olu made the disclosure on Thursday, 6 August, 2026 at the opening of the second Eko Health Convention, held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, where he described the shortage of health workers and funding as the two biggest challenges confronting the state’s healthcare system, while warning that donor funding for disease control was shrinking sharply.
“Lagos needs about 40,000 doctors to serve this population properly. We have about 7,000. We need roughly 40,000 more nurses. Every doctor in Lagos today is, in effect, doing the work of 10,” he said.
Beyond the workforce crisis, the governor pointed to a widening funding gap.
“The second gap is money. There is a shortfall of at least N100bn between what our health budget provides and what this system genuinely requires. Donor financing, which supported much of our disease control for two decades, is contracting sharply and will not return in its old form,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Sanwo-Olu said the state had begun addressing the workforce deficit through aggressive recruitment, improved welfare packages and plans to establish a University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
“We have recruited aggressively, and last month opened clinical recruitment across all twenty-nine of our secondary facilities. We have built accommodation for health workers. We are improving conditions to slow the departures and, increasingly, to attract colleagues back,” he said.
On health insurance, the governor disclosed that more than 1.5 million residents had enrolled in the state’s Ilera Eko health insurance scheme, as government intensified efforts to build a sustainable healthcare system.
“Today, more than one and a half million Lagosians are enrolled in Ilera Eko. As at the end of May this year, the figure stood at 1,502,994. More than half are women. And utilisation is rising, which tells us something important: that coverage is translating into actual care and not merely into cards in wallets,” he said.
The governor also disclosed that the Lagos State Health Management Agency’s Assistance in Distress programme had saved 18 lives since becoming operational in March.
“Since it became operational in March, that programme has saved 18 lives… Road traffic injuries, surgical emergencies, obstetric crises, strokes. Eighteen people who are alive because the system did not stop to ask whether they could afford to be,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu further said the government was deploying technology to improve healthcare delivery through the Lagos Smart Health Information Platform, currently being implemented across public health institutions.
According to him, the platform will enable patients’ medical records to be accessed seamlessly across healthcare facilities, improve disease surveillance and support evidence-based planning.
He added that government was also investing in artificial intelligence and digital innovation to strengthen diagnosis, medical imaging and health service delivery.
The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to building institutions rather than projects, insisting that reforms such as Ilera Eko, the health districts and the digital health platform must endure beyond his tenure.
“We have kept our promises. Now we are building the systems that will keep them long after us,” he said.
