Nigeria: El-Rufai urged to address perpetual shortfall in doctors’ salaries
The Kaduna state chapter of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called on Governor Nasir El-Rufai to correct the perpetual shortfall in salaries of doctors in the state.
Addressing newsmen in Kaduna on Monday ahead of this year health week themed ‘Road map to universal health coverage: the journey so far’, the state chairman and secretary of NMA, Dr. Shehu Abdulrahman and Dr. Tuko Moses respectively lamented that when compared to their federal counterparts, doctors in the state earn between 50 to 60 per cent.
This situation he said has continuously favoured internal brain drain from state to federal institutions as well as neighboring states. “Recently, there was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the state government where it pledged to correct the salary anomaly by January 2018 among other things. Unfortunately, the situation has remained same seven months into the year,” he said while he appealed to the state government to fulfill its part of the agreements reached in the MOU.
Commenting on the theme of the scientific conference, the duo said it was carefully selected to illustrate the national situation and narrow down to Kaduna state following the passage and signing into law of the State Health Insurance Act.
“It is generally accepted that human resource is a fundamental ingredient to attaining universal health coverage, thus, our sub-themes on human resources for health and healthcare legislation in Nigeria. Kaduna state is home to well over 2,000 licensed practicing physicians who work both in the public and private sectors.”
“Out of this, only about 12 per cent are in the employment of the state government; hence all efforts at attaining universal health coverage must be put into consideration. There must be readiness to collaborate with the private sector which has the largest group of physicians in the state and which also penetrates the communities most,” they added.
The doctors however disclosed that as part of activities slated for this year health week, the association will tomorrow begin free diabetes and hypertension medical screening and treatment for corp marshals of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The gesture according to them is aimed at encouraging the corp marshals for the human services they render as well as to show good will by offering the healthcare services at their doorstep.
Source: Daily Trust
