Bauchi Battles To Keep Medical Doctors

Bauchi State government has intensified efforts to improve primary healthcare delivery and retain skilled medical professionals by reviewing the existing scheme of service for medical doctors to address the worsening doctor-patient ratio in the state.

Speaking during a bi-annual media engagement with health journalists in Bauchi yesterday, the executive chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, said the government had injected over N872 million as counterpart funding into various health programmes aimed at strengthening service delivery at the grassroots.

As part of the retention strategy, He said Governor Bala Mohammed had approved the harmonisation of doctors’ salaries with the federal scheme of service.

According to Dr. Rilwanu, this step is designed to curb the frequent migration of medical professionals from state-owned facilities to better-paying federal institutions.

In addition, the Bauchi government released over N100 million as a matching grant for the Children’s Nutrition Fund, a key intervention aimed at tackling malnutrition among children under five years old across the state.

Dr. Rilwanu also said Bauchi had fully met its financial obligations under the health sector Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Aliko Dangote Foundation.
He added that talks were ongoing to extend the partnership for another four years, citing the programme’s substantial impact on health indices in the state.

On immunisation and maternal-child health, he reported significant milestones, including a decline in the number of zero-dose children across 13 local government areas. Other achievements include successful rounds of the National Immunisation Plus Days, measles and rubella campaigns, increased birth registration, expanded family planning services, and the administration of Azithromycin under the SARMAAN II project.