Ayade approves 100% increase in doctors’ salary

Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has approved implementation of 100 per cent Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) for doctors in the state hospitals to be at par with their colleagues in federal service.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu, who led the Director-General, Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Janet Ekpenyong and state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), disclosed this during a visit to wife of the governor, Dr. Linda Ayade in Calabar.

Governor Ayade announced 100 per cent increase in the salaries of the medical workers to cushion the effect of inflation and discourage them from migrating to other climes.

The governor’s wife expressed concern that medical doctors hardly find it comfortable working in the state due to poor salary since her time as a student doctor, adding that the situation prompted her to appeal to the governor to increase the monthly salaries by 100 per cent.

While appealing for positive change in the profession, she lamented that Nigerian medical sector was full of uncertainties. Speaking earlier, Edu thanked Mrs. Ayade for her support for the medical profession in the state, stressing that being a medical doctor had added a feather to the gestures the state ministry of health was enjoying.

Chairman of NMA, Innocent Abang, expressed gratitude to Mrs. Ayade for facilitating the increment of the salary structure with that of their federal counterparts, adding that implementation of CONMESS would ensure effective service delivery in the state’s medical sector.