The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, has passionately appealed to doctors and other health workers to remain in Nigeria and carry out their professional duties saying that the Federal Government was doing its best to reposition the nation’s health sector.
This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday by the Spokesperson of the Ministry Mr Henshaw Ogubike.
According to the statement, Dr Kana made the appeal while speaking as the Chairman of the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) National Executive Council Meeting held in Abuja.
Speaking on the current “japa” syndrome of Nigerian Doctors and other health workers, Dr Kana called on his colleagues not to leave the country for other countries to practice their professions as the present government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was committed to the improvement of the health sector.
“On japa syndrome, please I am appealing to our Doctors and other health workers not to leave our dear country. We don’t have another country. When you leave Nigeria now, you will still come back home, so let’s stay and salvage it together.
“Government will continue to recruit Doctors and privatise health care as part of its social responsibility,” he added.
He said that the essence of the meeting was to plan and strategize on how to manage the healthcare system in Nigeria.
Earlier, the President of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr Uche Rowland Ojinmah had said that the theme of this meeting: “Achieving Universal Health Coverage in a Depressed Economy” was deliberately chosen to reflect the desire of the Nigerian Medical Association for a Nigeria where the citizens experience zero out of pocket expenditure for healthcare services.
Dr Ojinmah said that the kidnapping of doctors and other healthcare workers was a major security menace that need to be addressed.
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