Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has approved the release of over N300million as grant to 389 medical doctors in the state civil service who are on residency training.
The fund will cover two consecutive years – 2023-2024 – residency training grant requirements with payments ranging from N800,000 to N900,000 per resident doctor for each year.
A total of 215 resident doctors received the fund for the year 2023, while 174 have so far received the grant in 2024.
Reacting to the development, the state commissioner for health, Dr. Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, acknowledged the importance of the course updates and components to the capacity of medical personnel to address the challenges in quality healthcare delivery in the state.
Oreh said: “These are essential for doctors to stay current with the latest medical knowledge and practices, ensuring they can provide the best possible care to patients.
“Research is a critical component of medical training, and these funds help cover the costs associated with developing and presenting research proposals and dissertations.”Also, travelling to examination centres can be costly, especially for doctors stationed in various parts of the state. For these examinations which are usually held outside the State, and in some cases, outside the country, this funding ensures that transportation costs do not hinder their ability to attend necessary examinations,” she added.
She thanked the governor for giving priority attention to the welfare of medical personnel, saying the governor’s action and political will to address critical issues that impede human capacity development was worthy of emulation.
