THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has raised alarm over the country’s worsening doctor-to-patient ratio, describing it as “unacceptable and dangerous,” while announcing new measures to safeguard doctors’ wellbeing and ensure safer healthcare delivery.
In a statement issued on Wednesday to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary received by News Point Nigeria, NARD lamented that each doctor in Nigeria currently attends to 9,083 patients on average, a figure it said is “far from global best practice.”
The statement, signed by NARD President, Dr. Mohammad Suleiman; Secretary-General, Dr. Shuaibu Ibrahim; and Publicity and Social Secretary, Dr. Abdulmajid Ibrahim, also revealed that resident doctors across the country will, with effect from October 1, 2025, cease to take continuous calls beyond 24 hours.
Nigeria has for years grappled with an acute shortage of doctors, made worse by a wave of emigration. According to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, more than 16,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country in the past five to seven years in search of better working conditions abroad.
This mass departure has left fewer than 11,000 resident doctors to serve the country’s population of over 240 million people, creating a crushing workload that NARD says is endangering both patients and doctors.
The association revealed shocking statistics about working hours in Nigeria’s hospitals: resident doctors work an average of 106.5 hours per week and surgical residents work as much as 122.7 hours weekly.
Many doctors endure four to five 24-hour calls per week, often with no recovery time.
NARD warned that such punishing schedules inevitably lead to burnout, fatigue, and increased medical errors, putting patients at risk and pushing doctors to physical and psychological breaking points.
“This situation is deeply troubling. Too often, resident doctors sacrifice their health, and sometimes their lives, in service to their patients. But the painful question remains: Who cares for their families and dependants after their passing?” the statement read.
In what it described as a “self-preservation measure”, NARD declared that resident doctors will no longer take continuous calls beyond 24 hours, insisting that there must be a mandatory rest period after each call.
“This decision is not just necessary but vital, in line with the principles of self-preservation enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath,” the statement said.
The association called on the Federal Ministry of Health to: implement a one-to-one replacement policy so that each doctor who leaves Nigeria is immediately replaced, establish safeguarding regulations to curb excessive call hours and protect both doctors and patients and provide fair and equitable remuneration to doctors who, despite global opportunities, remain in Nigeria to serve.
Describing those who stayed behind as “heroes,” NARD said Nigerian doctors have shown patriotism by enduring poor conditions while keeping the health system afloat.
“On this Independence Day, as Nigeria celebrates its freedom and progress, let us also reflect on the sacrifices resident doctors continue to make.
“We cannot continue to lose our members to preventable and avoidable deaths not now, and not in the future,” the statement concluded.
NARD also wished Nigerians a happy 65th Independence Anniversary, praying for a healthier and stronger nation.