By Sunday Egede
The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme, yesterday, said Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was addressing ‘japa’ syndrome in the state’s owned hospitals through a multifaceted approach.
Onojaeme, who was reacting to a newspaper publication titled “‘Japa’ sweeps Nigeria’s hospitals,” said in a bid to encourage more health workers in the country, the Delta State Government pays medical doctors and other health workers more than the Federal Government and other states in the country.
Onojaeme said that Delta pays the revised Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), without taxing the allowances of medical doctors.
According to him, Governor Oborevwori has also approved the immediate replacement of any medical doctor or other health personnel who travelled out of the country for greener pastures.
He said the Executive Order to replace the health personnel was to avoid the bureaucracy of going through the normal protocol of recruitment in the public service which may delay the process.
“Only Delta and the Federal Government pays the revised CONMESS to medical personnel in the country. Governor Oborevwori is determined to make medical and health workers stay in the country to serve the nation.
“In doing so, he is not unmindful of the wage disparity and working conditions pushing the health workers abroad. “So, as he is addressing the salary challenges, he is also working to improve the infrastructure, equipment and the working conditions of the medical and health workers in the state.
“This is evident in the recent approval for the purchase of CT-SCAN at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Ogharaand the Central Hospital Warri.
“The state government is also carrying out a holistic rehabilitation of some hospitals and health centres across the state to ensure a good working environment for health workers and patients,” Onojaeme added.
