Nigeria Ranks 171st among Nations Investing in Healthcare

According to the first-ever scientific study ranking countries for their levels of human capital development, Nigeria has been ranked 171st in the world for its investments in healthcare. The nation placed just behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ranked 170th) and just ahead of Zambia (ranked 172nd). The United States ranked 27th, while South Africa placed 144th.

The Director, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, Christopher Murray said findings show that the association between investments in education, health and improved human capital and GDP has been ignored by policymakers at their own peril.

He said: “As the world economy grows increasingly dependent on digital technology, from agriculture to manufacturing to the service industry, human capital grows increasingly important for stimulating local and national economies.”

Nigeria’s ranking of 171st in 2016 represents a drop from its 1990 ranking of 155th. It comes from having five years of expected human capital, measured as the number of years a person can be expected to work in the years of peak productivity, taking into account life expectancy, functional health, years of schooling, and learning.

Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank President, defines human capital as “the sum total of a population’s health, skills, knowledge, experience, and habits.”

It is a concept that rec- ognizes that not all labor is equal, and the quality of workers can be improved by investing in them.

Nigeria’s ranking of 171st in 2016 represents a drop from its 1990 ranking of 155th. It comes from having five years of expected human capital, measured as the number of years a person can be expected to work in the years of peak productivity, taking into account life expectancy, functional health, years of schooling, and learning.