Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday urged the federal government to prioritize the welfare of health workers in the country, to address the problem of brain drain in the sector.
He also expressed worries over the alarming migration of medical doctors, nurses, and other health practitioners to developed countries for greener pastures.
The former president said this at the 44th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), held at the Telemedicine Hall of the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Abeokuta.
Obasanjo, who was represented by the Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Adewale Musa Olomu, spoke on the theme of the conference: “Evolving Roles Of Doctors In Healthcare Management and Nation Building.”
He said, “Resident doctors constitute the bedrock of whatever medical services any country is offering its citizens, and Nigeria is not an exception.
“It is therefore very necessary for the government at all levels to ensure that there are good welfare packages for the doctors without whom it will be impossible to render any meaningful service.
“Having seen the amount of work resident doctors are offering in our hospitals, I, therefore, appeal that we should see to their welfare.
ALSO READ:Hardship: Tinubu approves low-key 64th independence celebration
“The rate at which Japa syndrome is affecting our health sector is alarming; a lot of our sub-specialties are now under lock and key. We can’t operate in these offices again because the specialists have left the country.”
Speaking, the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, represented by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, appealed to the doctors on the need to protect their immediate environment.
He explained that 30 percent of environmental problems across the world are caused by medical waste.
Abiodun said, “We doctors need to start paying attention to the environment. From the statistics I heard last week, healthcare waste and activities contribute to 30% of environmental challenges across the globe.
“So, if we don’t start doing something about the environment, then what planet are we leaving for our children? So, I want us to think about our waste, how can we recycle them, how can we go back and be innovative in what we use.”
The National President of NARD, Dr. Dele Olaitan, called on his colleagues to deliver quality health services to their patients.
