Japa: “FG Recruits 2,497 Doctors”, Tinubu Releases N50 Billion To Address Manpower Shortage
- The federal government led by President Bola Tinubu has lamented the scarcity of doctors and nurses in Nigeria's hospitals
- This is as the government said engaged the services of 2,497 doctors to fill in the shortages in the health sector
- Prof. Alli Pate, the coordinating minister of health and social welfare, made this known to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja
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Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
FCT, Abuja - On Wednesday, February 28, the coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Prof. Alli Pate, said the federal government has recruited 2,497 doctors, midwives, nurses, and community health extension workers in the last six months to bridge the manpower shortage in the health sector.
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Prof Pate made this disclosure on Wednesday at the third edition of the ministerial press briefing series initiated by the Ministry of Information in Abuja.
As reported by The Punch, the briefing series was initiated to provide a platform for public officials to reel out their achievements and apprise Nigerians of the challenges of governance.
The minister acknowledged that Nigeria is facing a shortage of medical personnel due to the exodus of healthcare workers.
Pate said the government has raised the admission quota of schools training doctors, nurses and midwives to increase the number of healthcare workers in the country, BusinessDay reported.
Nigeria with a low doctor-population ratio, is experiencing a massive exodus of physicians. Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) revealed the number of medical doctors in the country.
According to the president of the association, Dr Emeka Orji, only about 10,000 resident doctors are left. According to him, about 100 resident doctors leave the country monthly to seek greener pastures.
Tinubu releases 50 billion to health sector
Pate, however, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had made remarkable strides in enhancing healthcare accessibility, affordability, and quality.
The minister also announced the FG will be releasing N50 billion as the first tranche of the Basic Healthcare Fund, a significant increase from N25bn allocated in 2022.
“This infusion of funds will breathe new life into our primary healthcare facilities, ensuring that quality care is accessible to all citizens,” he said.
Nigerian doctors to be stopped from relocating abroad?
A bill aimed at curbing the migration of Nigerian-trained medical and dental practitioners to foreign countries passed second reading at the House of Representatives on Thursday, April 6.
The bill proposes that medical practitioners must have worked for at least five years in the country before being granted full licenses.
This is to address the increasing number of doctors leaving Nigeria in search of better opportunities abroad.
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Source: Legit.ng
