PULSE NG
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has disclosed that some doctors who left the state employment and migrated abroad to seek greener pastures were caught still drawing salaries from the state’s payroll.
Otti made this known while speaking at the first Abia State Council on Health, held at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, on Thursday, December 21, 2023.
The Governor stressed that the doctors, who followed the Japa wave, were still being remunerated by the state, despite that they had left the state employment and now working abroad.
Otti, who noted that the mass exodus of doctors had impacted the state’s health sector negatively, promised to buck the trend by ensuring that doctors are given special welfare packages from next year.
“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,” he said.
The Governor also declared his administration’s commitment to recruiting more health workers to beef up 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.
For his part, the Minister of Health, Prof Ali Pate, hammered on the need for a better synergy between the states and the Federal Government in healthcare delivery.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of Abia State Ministry of Health…
