Public Health Salary Structure in Nigeria: How Much They Earn (2024)

In this post, we’ll provide the salary structure for public health workers this 2024. This is the category of workers in the health sector that major on maintaining the quality of health for communities.

Public Health is a branch of medicine that focuses on ensuring the proper health of the population as a priority. This category of health workers deals on the prevention and mitigation of diseases and other health conditions through surveillance of cases that will result in promoting  healthy communities and environments safe from diseases.

This career is in much demand especially in Nigeria where about not less than 20% of the population are subjected to diseases, improper upbringing and lack of quality health, adding with other factors like shelter and foods. This aberated environment has host lot of diseases which is plaguing the inhabitants — the rampant ones are malaria, HIV/AIDs, and other issues like teenage pregnancy and drug abuse. With this instigating issues, there has been a continuous demand for the services of public health workers in the country to harness the effect of these occurrences.

Settling for a career is for those that are willing to do selfless services in ensuring the health of others. In some cases and work environment, the pay may not be as expected, but your zeal in the profession is what determines whether you will be opt in.

The pay for a public health worker is dependent on the time and years of specialization in the health sector discipline. Which connotes that new intake into the profession may not likely earn much compared to someone that has a long years of specialization in the same field. For this, we will take a view on the salary workers in each of the category can earn in a month.

The Salary Structure of Public Health Workers in Nigeria

Workers in the public health sector are considered quietly as medical professionals in term of the salaries they receive. But there are factors which determines their variant from the medics, this is when issues like: demand and supply (when there are too many health workers who service the limited number of patients); Educational qualifications; and the work experiences of each individual worker which will result to influencing the respective salary.

In Nigeria, the average amount a public health professional can earn is between N180,000 – N350,000, and it  depends on the type of organization you are employed to serve.

Below are the salaries that various health workers earnn in Nigeria per month

Epidemiologist – N250,000 to N650,000

An epidemiologist is a health worker who has the knowledge of detecting and studying disease outbreaks. This set of medics are trained professionals who can detect a disease pattern, causes, and location. By their work, it always help to control a particular diseases and also know its root sources thereby formulating a vaccines to harness the outbreak.

Salaries received by epidemiologist are relatively high due to the knowledgeable of the personnel who will have to critically survey the diseases soundly, so  as to proffer a matching solutions. They can be sure to get within N250,000 to N650,000 per month as salaries in Nigeria, adding with add-on bonuses and wages. 

Pharmacists – N100,00 to N600,000

A Pharmacists is a public health workers who majors on producing medicinal drugs that are safe to be given to patients so as to cure their sickness or diseases.  

Choosing a course in Pharmacy open you to getting employment in hospitals, health facilities, managed care, communities, the industry of pharmacy, and also becoming  a tutor of the course if you have the zeal for it.

A Pharmacy worker’s monthly salary ranges from N100,00 to N600,000 in Nigeria, due to the sensivity and nature of the job.

Nurses – N75,000 to N150,000

A nurse is a trained medical professional who attend to the physical, spiritual and psychosocial needs of their patients. 

Though Nurses are not paid much in the entry level, but you hardly see an unemployed qualified nurse. The salary of a nurse is within N75,000 to N150,000 based on the  qualifications and years of experience in the field.

Ophthalmologist, Opticians, and Optometrist – N 200,000

Ophthalmologists are doctors whose work is concerned with anything pertaining to the eye and thereby conducting eye surgery in situation of severe damage. 

An Optometrist by contrast, is a health professional that works on providing basic vision care for patients suffering eye challenges. They specialize on eye testing, eye correction, diagnosis of vision changes, management of sight changes, and treatment of sight by issuing a suitable lens.

The salary range of these three eye specialists starts from N 200,000 monthly.

Physiotherapists – N100,000 to N250,000

This category of public health workers is an allied health professional whose work is on sustaining injuries, servicing aged men and women, those who are ill, and individuals suffering from various disabilities. To achieve their work, they uses the therapy and work on mechanical forces, manual therapy, electrotherapy, and exercise therapy to address severe and absurd health impairment. Its through the help of physiotherapists, patients can have the ability to move and function adequately where they were illed.

The average salary of a Physiotherapist is from N100,000 to N250,000 which may be more on a monthly basis.

Laboratory Scientists – N80,000 to N150,000

A Laboratory scientist is an public health worker  whose work is on the lab. This category of health personnel carry out laboratory test and are very essential in handling issues pertaining to blood and scanning.

A Laboratory scientist may earn from N80,000 to N150,000 on a monthly basis as salary.

Steps to Join the Public Health Sector in Nigeria

If you are aspiring to fulfill your dream of become a professional public health worker in Nigeria, then its not a big bargain,  as we have outlined steps to follow and achieve your aim.

Here are some basic steps you need to take in becoming a public health professional.

Step 1: The first thing is to obtain a First Degree (Bachelor’s) in Public Health or any of the related fields pertaining to public health: Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacy, Chemistry and other science related degrees. These biological and medical science courses in undergraduate level are preferable to study in any Nigerian university because most universities does not offer public health as a course for study.  So its relevant to settle for and obtain a near bachelor’s degree certificate.

Step 2: The next thing is to get a Master’s Degree in Public Health. This will be after completing a four years degree course for your bachelor’s degree in public health. This master’s degree in the discipline will help broaden your scope and give you an edge in terms of employment. This does not mean that it’s compulsory to have a this master’s degree before being inducted into the public health field, but its to give you a wider area of specialization.

After obtaining the necessary certificates, all that will be left  is for you to be inducted into this medical profession. You will be required to fill the necessary forms before completing your journey to become a public health worker.