The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adekunle Salako, has said that healthcare providers are still the best paid workers in Nigeria.
He stated this on Monday, during a working visit to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH),
Salako who commended the UBTH management team for their dedication and innovation in the Hospital, noted that the government of President Bola Tinubu places high value on healthcare providers.
“Within the economic ability of Nigeria, health workers are still the best paid in our country today, which means that government prioritizes and value health workers,” Salako said.
The Minister however assured of increased funding for the nation’s health sector to further increase its efficiency, boost the morale of the workers and also discourage the ‘Japa’ syndrome in the sector.
“The challenge of ‘Japa’ in the health sector is mostly an economic challenge and we will continue to address it. But, economic problem is practically beyond the health sector. I believe that the direction of ‘Japa’ will eventually be reversed.
“We will continue to canvass for increased funding for the healthcare sector, and of course, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has clearly demonstrated his priority attention to the health sector.
“Not many things that we asked the president that he doesn’t do. He knows the value of health and he is giving a lot of attention to the health sector and we are just going to encourage us to continue to reciprocate our commitment, hard work and dedication to the people,” he said.
Earlier in a presentation to the Minister, the Chief Medical Director of UBTH, Prof Darlington Obaseki, described the Hospital as a major training ground for Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
He, however, stated that the 250 Consultants, 300 Resident Doctors and 750 Nurses working in the Hospital are grossly inadequate to care for the needs of over 500 patients that visit the Hospital daily.
“We are a major producer of healthcare workforce in Nigeria. We train Resident Doctors, we produce specialized medical manpower for Nigeria.
“We have about 29 clinical departments out of which 28 departments are fully accredited by the West African Colleges,” he said.
The CMD also confirmed that the government of President Tinubu increased funding to the health sector more than any other government in his eight years in the saddle of management of the Hospital.
“We have to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, since he came on board, there has been increased funding for the health sector, it has not been like this for a long time.
“Since I’ve been on board, there has never been funding in the health sector like this in last year and this year and this has allowed us do so many things like the physical infrastructure that you’ve seen,” Obaseki said.
Prof Obaseki and his management team had earlier conducted the visiting Minister round the critical departments of the tertiary health institution.
