The NMA hailed the Governor for repositioning the health sector by accepting to implement the recommendations made to him by the body.
NMA state Chairman, Dr Babatunde Rosiji and Secretary, Dr Moses Dada, stated this in a statement jointly signed and released in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday.
The NMA said, “We strongly believe that these will slow the velocity of both internal and external migration of doctors and other health workers from the state.”
The NMA listed the governor’s interventions to include approval of hazard allowance and pay parity for clinical workers and approvals of the Medical Residency Training Fund.
Others, the NMA said, included the release of funds for capital projects across hospitals and the recent increase in the subvention of Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital alongside other tertiary institutions in the state.
Rosiji and Dada jointly said the interventions in the sector would bring lasting solutions to the recurring financial problems in the institutions, adding that they would “in no small measures boost the morale of health workers in the state”.
They stated, “Following the meeting he (Oyebanji) had with our association in November 2022 shortly after inauguration where NMA presented the problems bedeviling the health sector in the state and proffered possible solutions, Mr Governor said he identified with the challenges and promised to actualise the recommendations we made to him.
“He emphasised the premium his administration attaches to the health sector and promised to do everything possible to make the workers happy. We are delighted that less than a year after the reassurances, the promises he made have become a reality”.
The NMA, urging Ekiti people to join hands with the government towards building the state, appealed to citizens of the state “to show understanding with health workers while seeking treatment across the hospital network in the state.
“While we promise to offer the best healthcare services possible, we advise citizens not to resort to the barbaric practice of assaulting health workers as we experienced recently”.
The doctors also condoled the governor and Ekiti people on the murder of the driver of the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools and two traditional rulers in the state.
They stated, “We want to commend the governor and security operatives on the role played in the rescue of the recently abducted school children and we believe they will leave no stone unturned to identify the perpetrators of these gruesome and barbaric acts and others promoting crime and violence in the state.
“While we use this opportunity to also appreciate the security agencies for the hard work they are rendering to keep the state safe, we call on them to do more,” the NMA stated.
