‘Invest More In Health, Manpower To Save Sector From Collapse’

Governments at all levels have been urged to show more commitment to the welfare of medical doctors, other health workers and improved the provision of health facilities to save the country’s health sector from imminent collapse.

The chairman of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Ekiti State, Dr Ifedayo Oreyemi, who stated this in Ado-Ekiti, said the government can salvage the situation by taking action to halt the continuous exodus of doctors from the country.

Speaking with the LEADERSHIP Sunday at the state capital, Oreyemi lamented the dearth of doctors in both public and private sectors in the state and in the country, noting that the situation would get worse in the next few years if the government fails to do the needful.

“Majority of the students who are under training in our medical schools are not interested in working in the system. They are writing professional examinations within their first two, three years of their graduation and leaving the country in droves. This is because there are better opportunities to practice the profession out there.

“So, we need the federal, the state and the local governments to stop paying lip service to manpower support in the health sector. They need to improve the quality of what they offer our health workers, especially doctors.

“The country’s health system is not working due to poor remuneration to doctors, shortage of support health workers and unavailability of other basic requirements in our hospitals. Doctors stay at work almost round the clock; some working in hospitals are on call for 24 hours a day. In our state, the doctors we have are not adequate to service all the available health facilities in the 16 local government areas. The crisis within the sector is real and is staring us in the face,” he said.

He noted that about 600 doctors are working in both private and public sectors in the state, saying the number is grossly inadequate to cover the health needs of the state.