Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, disclosed on Thursday that the state had identified doctors on its payroll who had relocated abroad in pursuit of better opportunities, yet were still receiving salaries from the state despite their departure from employment.
Speaking at the inaugural Abia State Council on Health, themed “Providing an Accessible, Affordable, and Quality Healthcare System for the New Abia,” held at the International Conference Centre in Umuahia, the governor highlighted how the departure of doctors had adversely affected the state’s healthcare sector.
Otti pledged to address this issue by introducing a special welfare package for doctors starting next year in an effort to mitigate the impact of emigration on the state’s healthcare system.
He said, “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.”
The governor added that his administration would recruit more health workers to strengthen 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.
