In a bid to avoid major crisis in the FCT health sector, a renowned Minimal Access Surgeon, Dr. Abdulhakeem Olajide Akintobi has called for urgent intervention on addressing the shortage of work force in the Territory.
Akintobi, who attributed the situation to the alarming continuous exodus of medical professionals in the Territory, called on the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike to tackle the problem.
He noted that apart from closing the gap on health manpower, there was also the need to improve the living conditions of the few existing ones before they also decide to migrate in what is popularly known as ‘JAPA’ syndrome in the local parlance.
He added that though migration of health care workers from developing countries to developed countries is a global phenomenon.
He however, noted that but that the current trend in Nigeria is indication of impending crises, which can be controlled by if government takes urgent steps to prioritise health care system in Nigeria.
He also appealed for the revitalisation of the FCT Primary Health Care Act, which was signed into law in 2019, in order to enable task shifting and task sharing among lower cadre in the health care profession in the FCT.
