Abia Govt Plans Review Of Medical Workers Salaries To Check ‘Japa’ Syndrome

Abia state government says plans are underway for an upward review of the salaries of medical personnel in the state to reduce the number of those leaving for abroad.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo stated this while briefing the press in Government House Umuahia.

She also disclosed that the government is committed to partnering the Association of Nigerian Physicians in The Americas (ANPA) and other Abia medical personnel overseas to provide the needed medical services to Abia people.

Okoronkwo stated that ANPA would not only carry out surgeries and attend to other medical issues but would conduct CPD training for about 200 medical doctors and other medical personnel.

She assured that all the patients that would be attended to during the medical mission would be followed up by the Abia state government, through the various General Hospitals , where they registered for the medical outreach.

“As a government, we are trying as much as we can to reduce the number of people leaving the system and to that effect , we have started working on the heath workers’ salaries to improve and increase their salaries and also to engage more people into the system.

“We are very intentional in our administration. This is not the kind of mission , whereby after attending to people, they leave and you don’t know where they are. And to that effect, all the people that were registered came through a structured process that are already in existence.

“So, the General Hospitals are aware of them, they are going to continue to follow up on them until they make full recovery.”