The Lagos State Government has given hint of its plan to establish a medical university aimed at training health professionals and battle the scourge of brain drain in the health sector.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu deisclosede this during the inauguration of the Femi Gbajabiamila General Hospital in Surulere, Lagos, on Tuesday, which was facilitated by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.
Sanwo-Olu emphasized that the medical university, a collaborative effort with the Federal Government, is expected to be operational before the end of 2024.
He said, “This is strategic for us. This is a strategic intervention for us. Why are we setting up a health or a medical university? It is to solve two problems.
“We found out that working with the Federal Ministry of Health, we need to scale up very aggressively all of our training and all of the youths to be trained in everything within our health space.
“We cannot sit back and fold our arms as a government that cannot intervene. And so we will, as a state, hope that other states will take this initiative and set up similar universities to be able to scale up and have between 1,000 and 1,500 doctors graduating every year.
“And this will also stem, in our view, the trend of medical personnel leaving our country.
“We are not going to stop at ensuring that we provide the best facilities to be able to retain our best talents here.”
