Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at the second Eko Health Convention held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, raised concerns over the growing pressure on the state’s healthcare system, revealing that Lagos faces a shortage of about 40,000 doctors and 40,000 nurses.

Sanwo-Olu said the shortage of health professionals and inadequate funding remain the two major challenges affecting the state’s ability to provide quality medical services for its expanding population.

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The governor explained that Lagos currently has about 7,000 doctors, far below what is required to properly serve millions of residents.

“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,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He added that the state’s healthcare system requires at least N100bn above its current budgetary allocation to meet existing demands.

“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,” he said.

The governor noted that declining donor support for disease control programmes had created additional pressure, requiring governments to develop stronger local solutions for sustainable healthcare financing.

Despite the challenges, Sanwo-Olu said his administration had introduced measures aimed at reducing the impact of the Lagos doctor shortage, including increased recruitment, improved welfare packages and investments in medical infrastructure.

“We have recruited aggressively, and last month opened clinical recruitment across all 29 of our secondary facilities,” he said.

He added that the government had provided accommodation for healthcare workers and continued to improve working conditions in an effort to retain medical professionals and attract others back to the state.

Beyond workforce expansion, Sanwo-Olu highlighted progress in health insurance coverage through the Lagos State Health Management Agency’s Ilera Eko scheme.

According to him, more than 1.5 million Lagos residents had enrolled in the programme as of May 2026, with women accounting for more than half of the beneficiaries.

“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 revealed that the Assistance in Distress programme introduced by the state had saved 18 lives since becoming operational in March.

He said the intervention had supported victims of road accidents, surgical emergencies, obstetric complications and stroke cases by providing urgent medical assistance regardless of their financial situation.

“Eighteen people who are alive because the system did not stop to ask whether they could afford it,” Sanwo-Olu said.

The state government is also expanding the use of technology in healthcare through the Lagos Smart Health Information Platform, designed to improve access to medical records, strengthen disease monitoring and support better planning.

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos was investing in artificial intelligence and digital innovation to improve diagnosis, medical imaging and healthcare delivery.

He stressed that the administration’s focus was on creating systems that would continue beyond individual projects and political cycles.

“We have kept our promises. Now we are building the systems that will keep them long after us,” he said.

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The governor’s remarks come amid increasing concerns across Nigeria over healthcare workforce migration, rising demand for medical services and the need for stronger investment in public health infrastructure.