The Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, on Thursday, said the state had uncovered on its payroll some doctors who left the state employment and migrated abroad to seek greener pastures, in what is commonly known as japa.
According to the governor, such
doctors are still collecting salaries from the state despite that they have
left the state employment and are now working abroad.
Otti made the revelation while
speaking at the first Abia State Council on Health at the International
Conference Centre, Umuahia with the theme, “Providing an Accessible, Affordable
and Quality Healthcare System for the New Abia”.
The governor, while observing
that doctors’ emigration had impacted negatively on the state’s health sector,
promised to tackle the trend by giving doctors a special welfare package from
next year.
He said, “The ‘japa’ syndrome
has indeed taken its toll on the health sector; however, this administration is
not leaving any stone unturned in addressing this challenge. To this end, the
government has resolved to motivate our health care workers through prompt
payment of their wages and improvement of welfare packages that we will
introduce from 2024.”
The governor added that his
administration would recruit more health workers to strengthen the health
sector.
“We are in the process of
recruiting new skilled birth attendants to improve healthcare service delivery
in the state. Furthermore, our ongoing digitalisation of the Abia State civil
service has uncovered some staff that have left their duty post for greener
pastures, yet still receive remuneration from the government. While the
criminality involved in this is going to be addressed by the relevant agencies
of government, the important thing here is that we do not have the number of
hands that were hitherto reported. We are working hard to fill these gaps,” he
said.
Otti said his government was
strengthening primary health care and ensuring that health facilities were
manned by personnel across the state.
The Minister of Health, represented
by the Permanent Secretary of Abia State Ministry of Health, Dr Ifenyinwa
Uma-Kalu, stressed the need for state governments to support the Federal
Government by providing the necessary infrastructure in the health care system.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr
Ngozi Okoronkwo, described the first State Council on Health as a demonstration
of the commitment of Otti’s administration to prioritising developmental
initiatives that capable of unlocking the potential of Abia’s strategic human
capital.
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