Ademola Adegbite A professor of Surgery at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Edward Komolafe, on Tuesday, opined that Nigerians will soon find it difficult to get medical practitioners to attend to patients at various hospitals if the Federal Government fails to attend to the issue of “Japa Syndrome.” He made this known while speaking with The PUNCH on the sideline of a Nigerian Academy of Neurological Surgeons Conference held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, on Tuesday. The conference has the theme, “Nigeria And Contemporary Neurosurgical Practice,” held in honour of Professors Temitayo Shokunbi and Adefolarin Malomo, who retired at the age of 70 from the services of the University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan.
Komolafe stressed the need for the government to bridge the gap in the health system, especially in the neurosurgeon practice as many practitioners were leaving the country in search of greener pastures in the developed western world. “Japa syndrome is eating the health system very badly. In my hospital in Ife, in the last two months, we have three new neurologists.
Now it remains only one. “In the last 10 years, I have trained 12 neurosurgeons. Half of them are outside the country as we are talking.
“Even those that are within the country, they are looking for better places where they can get better pay, none wants to work with the government because the pay is terrible,” he lamented. He further att.