Effective healthcare delivery may suffer greatly in Ondo as the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says that 105 medical doctors in different fields of medicine and surgery have resigned in the state.
The NMA said the resigned medical experts have left Nigeria for better pay somewhere else, thereby increasing brain drain in the nation’s health sector.
The association in a press statement, signed by the NMA state chairman, Stella Adegbehingbe, and secretary, Olorunfemi Owa, blamed the trend on irregular and percentage payment of salaries by the state government.
According to the NMA in the state, the situation is so unfortunate that medical doctors in this cadre have left the employment of the State Hospitals Management Board without replacement over the last few months.
“We have it on good record that about 105 medical doctors have resigned their employment from the Teaching Hospital in the last year alone.
“Ondo State has not been able to engage requisite numbers of house officers since 2019. This has made our work almost impossible because this group of doctors have a peculiar role in health service delivery,” the statement partly read.
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“It is troubling to note that only three house officers are left in the service of the Ondo State government across the three senatorial zones in the state.
“There is no gainsaying that the ongoing laudable efforts at having a Contributory Health Insurance Scheme in the state can only be successful if the urgent issue of manpower is adequately addressed”, it added.
Recall that medical doctors in the service of the Ondo State government had complained over the salary cut and unpaid wages by the state government.
The doctors in a statement issued at the weekend said they received their February salary in June.
They insisted on receiving their full salary despite the recent statement by the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, which suggested part-payment of salaries for all categories of workers in the state.
