The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has announced plans to deploy Nigerian medical professionals in the diaspora across the country in July 2026 to strengthen healthcare delivery nationwide.
Chairman/CEO of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this in Abuja while unveiling the Diaspora Health Impact Initiative (DHII) 2026. She described the programme as a coordinated national platform designed to harness the expertise, innovation and commitment of Nigerian health professionals living abroad to improve health outcomes at home.
According to her, the initiative will run during the week preceding National Diaspora Day, observed annually on July 25. She explained that the focus will be on specialist interventions, capacity building and long-term institutional partnerships rather than short-term outreach missions.
Dabiri-Erewa noted that diaspora remittances to Nigeria exceed $20 billion annually, but stressed that the knowledge and professional skills of Nigerian doctors abroad remain an underutilised national asset. She said DHII 2026 will align with national and state health priorities, especially in underserved communities across the six geo-political zones.
She added that the programme aims to strengthen specialist service delivery, improve access to quality healthcare, enhance clinical governance, promote medical innovation and generate data to guide policy reforms.
Implementation will be carried out in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Nigerian Medical Association, and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
Seven diaspora medical associations from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and South Africa have been assigned to specific states for interventions scheduled between July 20 and 23, 2026. The interventions will include advanced specialist lectures, maternal and newborn care, sickle cell screening, women’s health services, interventional radiology, neurosurgery and broader health systems strengthening.
The initiative will be officially flagged off in Abuja at the start of Diaspora Week 2026 before medical teams deploy to designated states in partnership with state governments and local health institutions.
Also speaking, President of the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain, Dr. Jide Menakaya, described the programme as inclusive and multidisciplinary. He stressed that nurses, midwives, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals all have critical roles to play.
Dabiri-Erewa commended Bola Ahmed Tinubu for supporting diaspora engagement as part of national development efforts and called on more Nigerian health professionals abroad to participate in the initiative.
