The Federal Government has inaugurated the Nigerians in Diaspora Advanced Health Programme (NiDAH-P) and its digital portal aimed at harnessing the expertise of Nigerian health professionals across the world and deploy their knowledge and skills to strengthen healthcare delivery as well as bridge the country’s health workforce gap.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate in conjunction with Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and other stakeholders in the Health Sector unveiled the programme in Abuja.
Pate said the programme is designed to create a structured platform through which Nigerian doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals in the diaspora can support healthcare delivery, medical education, research, and specialist services in Nigeria through physical and virtual engagements.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Daju Kachollom, the Minister said the initiative signals Nigeria’s commitment to moving beyond lamenting the migration of health professionals by creating sustainable mechanisms to reconnect them with the country’s healthcare system.
“What we are doing today is not merely launching a programme or a portal; we are making a statement that Nigeria is ready to move beyond lamenting the departure of our health professionals and is now committed to building the structures that will bring their expertise back in a meaningful, coordinated and sustainable way,” he said.
Pate added that for decades, Nigeria has grappled with shortages of healthcare workers, while many of its highly skilled professionals continue to excel in leading health institutions around the world.
He said: “We have felt the tension with pride and pain, proud of their achievements but pained by their absence.
“Today, we begin to resolve that tension.”
He said the NiDAH-P initiative was developed after years of policy work and extensive stakeholder consultations dating back to 2016.
He recalled that the programme draws lessons from countries like the Philippines, India, Rwanda, and Egypt, which have successfully institutionalised diaspora engagement in their health sectors.
The Minister said the programme would also operationalise existing Memoranda of Understanding between the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and several diaspora professional bodies.
They include the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain (MANSAG), Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA), Canadian Association of Nigerian Physicians and Dentists (CANPAD), Nigerian Medical Association Germany, National Association of Nigerian Nurses in North America (NANNNA), and Nigerian Nurses Charitable Association in UK.
Pate said that the NiDAH digital portal was developed with technical and financial support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Lafiya Programme, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and World Health Organization (WHO).
“The NiDA portal has been developed and tested. It is ready, and today we open it to the world,” he said.
The minister lauded the contributions of NiDCOM under the leadership of Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the ministry’s Public-Private Partnership and Diaspora Unit, and development partners for supporting the initiative from conception to implementation.
Speaking on behalf of Dabiri-Erewa, the Commission’s Secretary, Dr. Yakubu Bassi, described NiDAH-P as a strategic intervention aimed at converting migration into national development.
She said: “At NiDCOM, we are set up to strategically manage migration in such a way that we turn brain drain into brain gain and brain circulation.
“NiDAH-P is designed to achieve exactly that in the health sector.”
The NiDCOM boss said that the programme had been under development for nearly a decade, involving successive Ministers, Permanent Secretaries as well as other stakeholders before the official launch.
She added: “For this programme to come to fruition today is history in the making.
“We salute everyone who worked tirelessly to ensure that it became a reality.”
Dabiri-Erewa used the opportunity to invite stakeholders to participate in the July 24 and 25, 2026 National Diaspora activities slated to hold in Abuja, which focus is on health sector development in Nigeria.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Prof. Fatima Kyari, said Nigerian-trained doctors have earned global respect through their competence, resilience and professionalism, adding that many have consistently expressed a desire to contribute to healthcare development back home.
“They want to give back, and we welcome that commitment,” she said.
Kyari explained that the council had developed mechanisms to support diaspora engagement while ensuring patient safety.
“Any doctor, whether Nigerian or foreign, who provides care to a Nigerian patient—whether physically, virtually or through digital platforms—must be registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria,” she said.
She added that the council had established global registration platforms and partnerships with diaspora associations to facilitate easier engagement by Nigerian professionals overseas.
According to her, the council is also collaborating with the Federal Ministries of Health and Education under the Strengthening Collaborations and Advancing Clinical Excellence (SCALE) initiative to deepen partnerships with institutions such as the Royal Colleges in the United Kingdom.
The Chairman of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals and Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja, Prof. Saad Ahmed, said Nigerian tertiary hospitals have already benefited from collaborations with diaspora professionals.
He cited the successful development of the open-heart surgery programme at the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja as evidence of what structured diaspora engagement could achieve.
