Ekiti State doctors raise the alarm over brain drain

Say health sector collapsing

Doctors in the services of Ekiti State government have raised the alarm over what they described as the brain drain of medical personnel to foreign countries due to the deplorable condition of primary and secondary health facilities in the state.

They said the health service of the state was no longer attractive to new medical graduates as a result of the non-chalant attitude of government to quality healthcare, saying that hordes of their colleagues are abandoning the state to seek greener pastures in neighbouring states.

The doctors, under the auspices of National Association of Government General and Medical Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP), who had been on strike for the past three weeks in the state, said the government must wake up from its slumber and ensure people at the grassroots have access to quality healthcare delivery.

Chairman of NAGGMDP, Dr. Kolawole Adeniyi, who spoke while addressing journalists at the weekend, said that the doctors were left with no other option but to embark on the industrial action following government’s failure to respond to their demands.

According to the medical doctors, five of the general hospitals in the state have only one doctor each while the three state specialist hospitals have a total of six and seven medical doctors respectively.

“Out of 20 doctors employed in December 2015, only five are left. Out of another set of 20 doctors employed in 2018, six are left. Out of 20 specialists (consultants) employed cumulatively since 2016, only five are left. Unfortunately, many more are only waiting for opportunity to leave.

“This has resulted in a progressive decline in the number of doctors from as much as 180 to as low as just 71 currently,” he said. Adeniyi, therefore, urged immediate implementation of their nine demands, which include proper placement for doctors with full CONMESS, promotion benefits, hazard allowance, rural posting allowance, consequential adjustment on new minimum wage and other demands aimed at giving doctors in the state good working condition to deliver optimal services to the people at the grassroots.

He described facilities in the state capital, which had been stretched, as the only hope for residents to have access to quality healthcare, saying: “If things continue the way at the moment, Ekiti residents might in no distance time start to run to other neighbouring states for help.”

He also appealed to well-meaning citizens of the state to join in the call for the present government to save the lives of people at the grassroots by restoring their hope to affordable and quality healthcare services in their respective localities without necessarily travelling for hours to the state capital.

Adeniyi said that the recently-unveiled state health insurance scheme by the governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, would achieve little or no result without a well-motivated personnel and adequately-equipped facilities across the 16 local councils of the state.