Otti plans to implement welfare programmes to deter health-care workers from leaving

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has stated that in order to stimulate and prevent the flight of health workers, he will implement a special welfare package in the state health care system in 2024.

Otti, who disclosed this while declaring open the first Abia State Council on Health in Umuahia with the theme “Providing an Accessible, Affordable, and Quality Healthcare System for the New Abia, lamented that the ‘Japa syndrome’ has taken a huge toll on the health sector as health workers travel abroad seeking greener pastures.

He said, “The ‘Japa’ syndrome has indeed taken its toll on the health sector. This administration is not leaving any stone unturned in addressing this challenge. To this end, the government has resolved to motivate our healthcare workers through prompt payment of their wages and improvement of welfare packages that we will introduce in 2024.”

Describing health as one of the cardinal objectives of the administration, Otti explained that he promised to make the health of the people a priority.

He said that he was happy that the accreditation of the ABSUTH, which was lost some years ago, has been restored, while the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has increased its quota into the college of medicine and training of house officers.

Otti added that his administration would soon recruit some health workers to strengthen the state health care system.

“We are in the process of recruiting new skilled birth attendants in order to improve healthcare service delivery in the state. Furthermore, our ongoing digitalization of the Abia State Civil Service has uncovered some staff that have left their duty posts for greener pastures yet still receive remuneration from the state government.

“While the criminality involved in this is going to be addressed by the relevant government agencies, the important thing here is that we do not have the number of hands that we need. We are working hard to fill these gaps.”

Otti also explained that his administration has commenced the revamping of the state healthcare scheme, while free medical services, which started at the inception of the administration, have been ongoing in the state.

“The government is strengthening primary healthcare and ensuring that there are healthcare workers to man such facilities across the state. This administration is revamping the Abia State Health Insurance Scheme. We have started retrofitting and retooling the healthcare facilities in every part of the state.

“The administration has renovated and commissioned the general hospital in Amachara, Umuahia, and the Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia, while work is ongoing in the other 14 general hospitals across the state.”

In his remarks, the Minister of Health, Dr Ali Pate, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Abia State Ministry of Health, Dr. Ifenyinwa Uma-Kalu, said the event was apt, arising from the experience of COVID-19, which exposed inadequacies of healthcare and the need to improve on them.

The Minister stressed the need for state governments to support the federal government by providing the necessary infrastructure in the healthcare system and congratulated Otti on its resolve to renew the approach of the healthcare system.

In her address, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, described the first State Council on Health as a demonstration of the commitment of the Otti administration to prioritising developmental initiatives that are capable of unlocking the potential of the state’s strategic human capital to fast-track the attainment of socio-economic development in the state.

Okoronkwo explained that the administration’s focus is to bestow on the state a health system that meets the needs of the people, irrespective of socio-economic status, adding that it would put Abia on the path of attaining universal health coverage.

She also noted that under the present administration, various health institutions are being retrofitted, stressing that the state has also met the Abuja declaration by allocating 15 per ce of the 2024 budget estimate to the health sector while the proposal for the upward review of health workers emolument is currently receiving the attention of the government.