— laments, Ondo no more medical tourist centre

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo state, has knocked the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa over the collapse of the state’s health sector following the exodus of medical doctors from the state.

A statement, signed by its Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, said that the state health has “completely collapsed under the watch of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

Peretei who attributed the ugly development to the dearth of medical doctors in the state, said that available officials have continued to be overstretch, bridging the gap in the available doctor-to-patient ratio.

According to him, medical doctors working with Ondo State Government hospitals are leaving the state to seek greener pastures in other states over alleged abnormal promotions and lack of implementation of a new salary structure by the state government.

Peretei noted that the Ondo state used to be the medical tourism destination for a lot of people in the South West cannot boast any longer.

He lamented that the rural areas are most hit by the state’s worsening healthcare crisis

According to him “It is a common saying that, “Health is Wealth”. The Ondo State health sector has completely collapsed under the watch of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who wants us to believe that our people are lucky to have him as Governor at this time.

“Doctors in the employment of the State migrate to neighbouring states of Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos and Kwara that have better conditions of service. Yet, Ondo State is richer than most of these states.

“Ondo State used to be the medical tourism destination for a lot of people in the South West. Not any longer.

“The Comprehensive Health Centers and General Hospitals across the entire State have been abandoned in terms of medical equipment, drugs and supplies.

“Work conditions unbearable for those who are still holding forth. If the present trend continues, our State will have to depend on native doctors and herbalists, because the man who should rise to the occasion is neither concerned nor bothered”

“The government needs to bring professionals to this hospital; they should hire trained doctors and pay them so they can be willing to work there.

“In February this year, the Nigerian Medical Association while serving Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa a seven-day notice before embarking on strike revealed the unpardonable state of affairs in the health sector.

“There are only 22 resident doctors at the University of Medical Sciences University Teaching Hospital, Ondo as against 150 previously there.

“The facility does not have resident doctors under training in; Orthopedics, Burns and Plastic, Ear, Nose and Throat, Mental Health and Pediatric Surgery.”

“The General Hospitals in Iwaro-Oka, Ipe, Irele and Idoani which had at least five doctors each, now have only one doctor per hospital, who will be on Call Duty per week and will still attend to the day-to-day running of the hospital. Is there any surprise then, why there are many avoidable deaths in these facilities?

“The recently conducted recruitment exercise by the Ondo State Civil Service Commission was shunned by doctors because the entry level for doctors in the State is Grade level 12 step 3 as against Grade level 13 step 2 approved by the federal government, which is applied by other states”

“If within ten months, Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been unable to prove that he is capable of providing healthcare at any level, how does he want us to believe that our people are lucky under his leadership?

“Asking the people for another term in office is an assault on the sensibilities of Ondo State people who have endured his lacklustre performance in the health sector.

Peretei said ” Ondo State does not deserve this kind of luck that has reduced our medical facilities to slaughter slabs”