Legislation, training high volume of health workers won’t curb ‘japa’

The Vice Chancellors of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Prof. Kayode Ijadunola, and his counterpart in Achievers University, Owo, Prof. Omolola Irinoye, have disclosed that the move by the government to curb the ‘japa’ syndrome among medical personnel with legislation will not address the menace.

According to the vice-chancellors, with Nigeria churning out a large number of health workers, including doctors and nurses, the problem is retaining those trained after their graduation and induction.

They both stated this at Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, during the induction ceremony of the 23 newly graduated professional nurses, including 21 females and two males, into the Nurses and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

Ijadunola disclosed that no amount of health practitioners produced would be enough for the country considering the high rate at which they are leaving in droves.

He said: “Globally, there is a shortage of health manpower, whether it is doctors, nurses, or any other profession in health-related areas, which was made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, where a significant number of health workers retired; they just left the profession and walked away due to the mental fatigue, burnout, and all the things that accompanied the COVID era.

“A number of them left, and people are looking for doctors and nurses all over the world, so whatever we produce, if we don’t treat them well regarding pay, conditions of service, security in the system, and other factors, it won’t matter. Sometimes when our government says they want to stop professional doctors from leaving and attract those from outside to come back, it is the mirage of the century because the ones at home are leaving, and you are saying you want to bring back the ones from outside who are so afraid of the security situation.

“I will be happy if, in two years, ten percent of those who graduated today are still here because, as we are producing them, they are leaving; that is the pain of our society today. The facilities where we work are not conducive, the equipment is not available, the environment is toxic, and health workers remain the target of bandits.”

Ijadunola said the proposal by the National Assembly to retain health workers in the country for five years after graduation cannot work because of the amount of money spent in training them, which may not be easily recouped.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of Achievers University said inappropriate salaries for health workers and the work environment are some of the factors leading them abroad to greener pastures.

He said, “People must be paid commensurate with the nature of the work they do. Whenever you see anybody doing shifting duties, you distort their rhythm. What people do in many places is compensate people for the nature of the work they do. People are running out because we are not meeting essential needs. Where they are running to is not as if they are doing free jobs; they get reasonable money that can enable them to meet their family needs.

“Our facilities are problematic. Things people need to work with are not there. If health professionals worked according to their training, we wouldn’t have anybody working in our health facilities again. What we have in our laboratories is not available in the hospitals, making them improvise. We have hospitals without enough bedsheets. There are hospitals without electricity. I have been to a teaching hospital where nurses used the light from their phones to attend to patients. The working environment is not good enough for medical personnel.

“We have to look at our human resources; we have to look at our facilities. We have hospitals without water, and we are talking about infection control. We have to do a lot of things that will reduce the need for people going to hospitals at the community level to reduce infections and chronic diseases.”