By Bankole Taiwo Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for improved welfare packages for doctors and other healthcare workers in the country to curb japa syndrome. Obasanjo noted that the rate at which the country is losing its healthcare professionals to other parts of the world due to poor working conditions is highly alarming. He warned that if the government at all levels fails to address the root causes of this migration, the continued survival of the country could face a serious threat.
The former President, represented by the Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Prof Adewale Musa-Olomu, made this known during the opening ceremony of the 44th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, on Thursday, held at the hospital’s Telemedicine Centre . The conference, themed “Evolving Roles of Doctors in Healthcare Management and Nation Building,” saw Obasanjo emphasising that resident doctors are the foundation of any country’s medical services, and Nigeria is no exception. “It is therefore essential for governments at all levels to ensure adequate welfare packages for doctors, without whom it would be impossible to provide meaningful medical services.
“Having seen the immense work resident doctors are doing in our hospitals, I appeal that their welfare should be prioritised. “The issue of doctors being abducted and kidnapped should not be treated lightly. I hope that, by the end of .
