The Department of Health Planning, Research and Statistics of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) in collaboration with The World Health Organization(WHO) has successfully updated and validated Nigeria’s health workforce profile from 2012 to 2018 with funding from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) under the “Enhancing the Ability of Frontline Health Workers to Improve Health in Nigeria” project. 

Validating the Nigeria Health Workforce Profile 2018 provides the national health workforce information needed for planning and it is a crucial milestone in the health sector considering that the last country profile was developed and published in 2012.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary FMoH Alhaji Abdullahi Mashi represented by Dr. Evelyn Ngige stated “This document will not only better our understanding of our health workforce’s stock, characteristics and performance, it will also further help to generate insights into gaps and possibilities for health workforce strengthening”.

She reiterated, “The document will assist policy and decision makers at all levels to develop appropriate strategies to ensure that the correct numbers of professionals are trained, equitably distributed and retained towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.” 

She also thanked the WHO for the great support demonstrated in strengthening health workforce planning and management especially in the updating of the country’s HRH profile.

The profile demonstrates Nigeria’s significant progress in achieving the Global Strategy for Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 milestone which requires every country to track health workforce dynamics and share human resource for health (HRH) data needed for planning towards achieving UHC. Achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria is largely dependent on adequate and equitable supply of the needed health workforce to improve access of Nigerians to integrated people-centered quality health services. 

At the validation workshop, the WHO Officer in Charge (OiC) Dr Peter Clement,stated that “African countries need a global focus on how human resource works and how it is managed”. Dr Peter reaffirmed WHO’s commitment for continued partnership with the Government of Nigeria  in strengthening Human Resource for Health management and planning. He further indicated that the profile when finalized will set the foundation for achieving the goal of the Strategic Pillar 3 and Priority Area 9 of the Second National Strategic Health Development Plan 2018 – 2022, for having in place the right number, skill mix of competent, motivated, productive and equitably distributed health work force for optimal and quality health care services provision.

This principle has been guiding the WHO’s ongoing support in ensuring that health workforce information is readily available for management and planning in Nigeria.