Bauchi Govt Urged To Improve Health Workers Remuneration, Condition Of Service
Health Financing Advisor of the USAID funded Integrated Health Program (IHP) Mr Khalid Kasimu speaking at the Media Quarterly Meeting on Budget Performance. Photo: Murtala Muhammad
By Murtala Muhammad
Stakeholders in the health sector have called on Bauchi State government to adequately make provision and put necessary measures in place to ensure retention of health workers in the state to render healthcare services to the people.
They made the call in Bauchi during a Media Quarterly Meeting on the State’s Budget Performance, organised by Journalists for Public Health and Development Initiative (J4PD), supported by USAID funded Integrated Health Program IHP
The stakeholders also identified issues militating against the state’s health sector, to include poor remuneration, accommodation and allowances as the major factors driving health workers particularly Medical Doctors away to other states or organisations.
In a remark, the Health Financing Advisor of the USAID Integrated Health Program (IHP) in Bauchi State, Mr. Khalid Kasimu said the state government needs to revisit its pay package, provide accommodation for healthcare workers and introduce special allowance to serve as motivation especially for those posted to rural areas.
Mr Kasimu said if these measures were put in place, it would attract doctors and other health workers in other states to come to Bauchi and provide healthcare services to the people.
The Coordinator of Journalists for Public Health and Development Initiative (J4PD), Ms Elizabeth Kah expressed concern that the state was still battling inadequate human resources for health despite the Governor’s approval for the employment of one hundred doctors to fill in the existing gap in the public health facilities.
In an interview, the Executive Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed said the state placed advertisement on media outfits for medical doctors to apply for the job, but out ot the twenty six who indicated interest only eleven scaled the interviews and accept the offer.
Dr Mohammed said currently out of that number, six abandoned the job for the other places due to the poor condition of service.
He explained that the state transition committee on health, which he chaired had advised the government to come up with a revised remuneration for medical doctors to be close if not equal to the other states or Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi.
