Nigeria Faces Severe Shortage of Public Health Physicians — APHPN President Warns
Nigeria is grappling with a serious shortage of public health physicians, a development that is affecting the country’s healthcare system and its capacity to train more specialists.
The President of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN), Dr. Tara Kene, disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, the shortage stems largely from the wider deficit of medical doctors in the country, noting that public health physicians must first qualify as medical doctors before specialising in the field.
He explained that public health physicians are essential to community healthcare, where they focus on disease prevention, health promotion, and delivering vital interventions across different sectors.
Dr. Kene said members of the association work in universities, local governments, state and federal institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations.
He added that the shortage of professionals at the grassroots has forced many communities to depend heavily on task shifting, with community health workers taking over responsibilities due to the lack of Medical Officers of Health.
The APHPN president also raised concerns over the low number of specialists being trained and the continued migration of healthcare workers abroad in search of better opportunities.
He noted that Nigeria currently lacks accurate data on the total number of public health physicians because of weak registration systems, though the association has more than 3,000 registered members.
Dr. Kene stressed that public health physicians are critical to policymaking, disease outbreak response, and healthcare delivery at all levels of government.
He further revealed that the association has begun plans to establish a national secretariat and housing estate, which will also serve as a base for telemedicine services aimed at improving healthcare access in remote and underserved communities.
He appealed to Nigerians, corporate bodies, and other organisations to support the project through financial or material donations to ensure its completion.
