The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has been ranked
Nigeria’s leading health institution in the 2026 SCImago Institutions
Rankings, placing 7,051st worldwide and in the first quartile of the
global health-sector table.
The Spanish-based ranking scored institutions on 20 indicators across
three weighted dimensions: research performance (50%), innovation
output (30%) and societal impact (20%).UCH finished 1,300 places ahead
of its closest domestic rival, the Nigerian Institute of Medical
Research, Lagos, which ranked 8,383rd globally.
The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (9,053), Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital (9,860), University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital
(9,883) and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex
(10,668) completed the six Nigerian institutions listed.
The research component — measuring publication output, citation
impact, top-quartile journal presence, international collaboration and
open-access share — accounts for half of each institution’s score.
Innovation tracks patents and technological impact, while societal
impact covers web visibility, media mentions, contributions to UN
Sustainable Development Goals and influence on public policy.
Chief Medical Director, UCH, Prof. Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo described
the feat as “a collective achievement due to the contributions of all
our committed and dedicated staff who toil day and night to keep
services going on in spite of the challenges and the difficult work
terrain.”
He said this achievement will serve as a motivation for all staff of
the nation’s premier tertiary health facility even as he thanked the
Federal Government for giving priority to the health sector.
“With improved funding, provision of stable electricity and other
infrastructural facilities, as well as improved workers’ remuneration.
“ I celebrate this ranking on behalf and over the shoulders of our
greatest assets, our staff, as it perfectly aligns with the mantra of
the current administration of Shared Vision for Excellence”, said the
CMD.
Founded on 20 November 1957 as Nigeria’s first teaching hospital, UCH
is affiliated with the University of Ibadan’s College of Medicine and
serves as the main referral centre for the country’s southwest. It is
one of eight federally funded Cancer Centres of Excellence.
The hospital’s research pipeline has been bolstered by internal
funding, with the CMD awarding grants to six staff researchers in
October 2024.
A University of Ibadan clinician-researcher, Prof. Godwin Ogbole,
this year also became the first indigenous African Senior Fellow of
the world’s leading MRI society. The ranking highlights the limited
global research footprint of Nigerian health institutions.
Only six made the health-sector list, five of them teaching hospitals
— compared with deeper benches from Egypt, South Africa and Kenya,
whose Kenya Medical Research Institute leads the continent’s
health-sector table.
State hospitals, federal medical centres and private providers were
absent from the ranking.
SCImago, which also produces the Scopus-powered Journal & Country
Rank, says its indicators are fully auditable and designed to let
institutions benchmark research, innovation and societal performance.