KEY POINTS
- The ex-president Mr. Obasanjo calls on the government to increase the welfare of doctors in order to reduce migration.
- It really shocking and alarming that health care waste plays 30 percent of health environmental problems.
- The NARD President has urged resident doctors not to relent in their duties failed to indicate when they stopped performing optimally.
Ex President Obasanjo in his recent intervention has urged the federal and state governments to develop positive attitudinal approach towards enhancing the welfare of resident Nigerian health workers, especially the resident doctors in order to arrest the ugly incident referred to as the “Japa Syndrome, leaving the country in search of better welfare and working conditions abroad.
Obasanjo said this during his speech at the 44th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, noting that any amendment of the Heath sector cannot be seen without addressing the welfare of the health workers because health workers are leaving due to Increased Brain drain remains a major draw back towards the nation’s health sector. He was represented by Dr. Musa Olomu who is the Medical Director of the Federal Medical Center, Abeokuta.
Solutions to the healthcare brain drain
He noted that, the cases where Nigerian doctors are moving to other countries of the world in search of better amenities is dangerous to the health of the country and should receive urgent attention. There is need to enhance the welfare of the resident doctors in the understanding that most of them are lured by attractive offers in foreign countries.
“This is the death knell of the country’s healthcare as all the brightest brains have been turned away,” he said. Other speakers who supported Obama’s opinion were Governor Dapo Abiodun, who was represented by Ogun State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Tomi Coker. He also encouraged the medical practitioners to embrace environmental health management arguing that hazards of healthcare associated waste.
According to Governor Abiodun, health care waste index has been found to be responsible for approximately, 30% of global environmental issues and said the time has come for the health care professionals to embrace thematic approaches and innovations like recycling.
There is a suggestion that doctors should not only concentrate with their items within the health sector but also engage as environmental crusaders, he said. It has widely been said that ‘if we do not manage our environment we will be passing over the globe to the next generation in a worse state.’
According to Vanguard, The National President of NARD Dr Dele Abdulahi Olaitan in his address encouraged the resident doctors not to relent in their duties as they are vital components of the nation’s health facility. He called Nigerian doctors the pillars of health care because they work in both the public and private facilities despite working under some unfavorable conditions.
