The Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Dr Henry Ayuk, says the statutory retirement of civil servants after 35 years of service is threatening public health services in the state.
The commissioner, who disclosed this during an interactive session with newsmen in Calabar, the state capital, reiterated that the state government is considering engaging nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel who are due for retirement this year.
He stated that nurses and doctors who may be qualified for re-engagement are those who are still active and useful to the system and have a good record of service.
Ayuk cited the example of a doctor at General Hospital Ogoja who was due for retirement three months ago, but the state governor had not accepted his retirement because there was no replacement.
He explained that some of the nurses retiring this year are below 50, as some of them started receiving salaries when they were admitted into nursing schools in their teens, and these years were counted for them as years of service.
He lamented that out of the 18 general hospitals in the state, there are only 18 doctors, and in some hospitals, only a single doctor offers 24-hour services, which is humanly impossible.
He further stated that the state government has only six pharmacists in its employ, and some hospitals in the state have none and expressed fear that this may give room for quackery.
He announced that the state government has employed five new medical doctors for the general hospitals, and they will resume work soon.
According to the commissioner, there was no single doctor in the state’s primary health care system until the advent of the administration of Governor Bassey Edet, who recruited five doctors to take care of the 1096 Primary Health Centres in the state.
He underlined that PHC is the foundation of the health care system; therefore, it cannot function successfully without doctors.
He submitted that the PHC is the thrust of Otu’s administration because it is the pillar of the national health system.
