Kwara State government has lamented the dearth of medical doctors in the state’s health facilities, describing the development as worrisome.  According to the Executive Secretary, Hospital Management Board, Dr. Abdulraheem AbdulMalik, the situation is linked to the brain drain syndrome, popularly called ‘japa’.

Abdulmalik, who spoke at a ministerial press briefing organised by the Ministry of Communication, said the board could not find doctors to recruit to work with the state government “despite approval given by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to recruit new doctors.”

He said: “We have the approval of His Excellency to recruit doctors but we can’t just find the doctors to recruit. Doctors are hot cakes now. If a doctor resigns in the morning, he will get another job in the afternoon.”

Abdulmalik, who said the state currently has only 99 as against the 180 to 200 medical personnel required for the state, added that only 96 are on the government’s payroll.

“The three medical doctors that left the service returned after the recent increase in doctors’ salary by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq. We actually had 96, but after His Excellency increased the salary, three of them that ‘japa’ came back. So, we have 99 right now. We’re expecting more at the moment. We need about 180 to 200 medical doctors,” he stated.He stated that the challenge was more pronounced in rural areas, adding that the board was working out better remuneration and incentives for doctors.

He disclosed that the board was developing a software application that would give patients visiting its 45 health facilities information on the number of doctors available at a particular period of time to reduce the usual delay in keeping appointments with doctors and also avert a situation where patients would collapse while waiting to see a doctor in the hospitals.

Abdulmalik also stated that there was a retention plan by the state government to close the gap on the required number of medical doctors in the state, adding that the plan would kick-off in four years time.

“On recruitment, we have presented a prerequisite to His Excellency on actually harvesting doctors from medical schools. So, the state government sponsors you as a student for maybe a year or two years and you pay back by working for the state for those two years in which the state has invested in you before you ‘japa’. So, that would mean there is a closing of the gap for medical doctors. Of course, that would kick-off in about three to four years because we are starting from their clinical level, which is 400 level,” he said.