Exodus of medical personnel is becoming a big threat in most states as most medical doctors eye lucrative monetary rewards abroad.
The Rivers State government has however, shelled out N300m as grant to boost earning by doctors in the state. It is to cover 389 medical doctors in the State Civil Service who are on residency training.
The released fund will cover two consecutive years – 2023-2024 – Residency Training Grant requirements with payments ranging from N800,000 to N900,000 per resident doctor for each year.
A total of 215 resident doctors received the funding for the year 2023, while 174 resident doctors have so far received the training grant in 2024 in the State.
With this milestone, the administration of Gov Siminalayi Fubara is said to have set a new record in the healthcare funding as residency training grant has only been paid twice in the past 16 years, with the last paid in 2018.
By this strategic action, Gov Fubara has recommitted the resolve of his administration towards ensuring that the training initiative aimed at supporting the professional development of doctors, at both the Junior and Senior residency cadres, is not frustrated due to absence of the requisite grants that serve as enduring incentives to the health personnel.
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Government officials say this shows that Gov Fubara considers such comprehensive support for residency training as strategic investment in improving the capacity of healthcare personnel which would eventually enhance the quality of healthcare services available to Rivers’ people in the health sector.
Governor Fubara particularly expressed the belief that with such support from his administration, the benefitting medical doctors would be dutiful with the residency training, which is an essential stage of graduate medical education, to acquire the competence needed to enable them offer the best service while working in the employ of the state government.
Reacting to the groundbreaking achievement, Hon Commissioner for Health, Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, acknowledged the importance of the course updates and components to the capacity of the personnel to address the challenges in quality healthcare delivery in the State.
Oreh said: “These are essential for doctors to stay current with the latest medical knowledge and practices, ensuring they can provide the best possible care to patients.
“Research is a critical component of medical training, and these funds help cover the costs associated with developing and presenting research proposals and dissertations.
“Also, travelling to examination centres can be costly, especially for doctors stationed in various parts of the State. For these examinations which are usually held outside the State, and in some cases, outside the country, this funding ensures that transportation costs do not hinder their ability to attend necessary examinations,” she added.
Oreh further spoke on the burden examination fees pose on medical personnel, saying: “The examination fees for the Parts I and II residency exams are very expensive, and by covering these fees, the government ensures that financial constraints do not prevent doctors from advancing in their careers.”
She thanked the Governor for paying priority attention to the welfare needs of personnel in the health sector, explaining that the Governor’s proactive action and political will to address critical issues that impede human capacity development was worthy of emulation.
The commissioner emphasised that the gesture of Gov Fubara, barely one year in office, will ultimately yield better health outcomes for Rivers’ people in particular and Nigerians at large.
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