Cursory: ABUTH’s NARD chapter is urging for better pay and improved welfare to combat the “Japa Syndrome” in the healthcare sector, where doctors are leaving Nigeria for better opportunities abroad. The brain drain has led to a significant reduction in doctors, impacting patient care and increasing workloads. They highlighted stagnant salaries since 2009 and unpaid August salaries for lower-grade doctors as major concerns.
The Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) chapter of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has called for improved welfare and better compensation to address the concerning brain drain issue in the healthcare sector.
According to Badmus Kabir, the vice-president of the association, brain drain, commonly referred to as the ‘Japa Syndrome,’ is a significant problem depleting the healthcare workforce in Nigeria.
He pointed out that just two years ago, the ABUTH branch of NARD had more than 500 members, but this number has declined to slightly over 400 due to doctors migrating to other locations.
He clarified that this number doesn’t account for doctors who have completed their residency training or those who have relocated to work in different healthcare facilities.
Mr. Kabir noted that in some departments, the situation is even more dire, with only two or three young doctors remaining.
“Two had transferred service from ABUTH to another part of the country where they felt safer, and the scenario is worse in some departments where you have only two or three young doctors,’’ he said.
Mr. Kabir also pointed out that the trend of doctors leaving, known as ‘the Japa Syndrome,’ is affecting younger doctors as well.
This is detrimental to the healthcare system, leading to increased workloads for the remaining doctors and negatively impacting patients.
He emphasized that with a limited number of doctors, patients with non-emergency medical conditions may have to wait for their appointments for up to four months or more.
He urged the government and other stakeholders to address this issue by improving doctors’ welfare and increasing their salaries to combat the high rate of brain drain in the health sector.
”Doctors are living on the same salary scale since 2009 in spite of the harsh economic realities in the country, hence the agitation by NARD for an increase in wages,’’ Mr Kabir said.
According to Mr. Kabir, more than 70 percent of their members who are on grade levels three and four of the consolidated medical salaries did not receive their salaries for the month of August. This issue was confirmed by Aisha Abdulkadir, the Public Relations Officer of ABUTH.
Source: gazettengr
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