Brain Drain: Lagos to Recruit Health Professionals into PHCs

On Nov 29, 2023

The Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (LSPHCB) Permanent Secretary, Dr Ibrahim Mustafa in an interview on Tuesday, in Lagos says the board will recruit more healthcare professionals and rehabilitate more facilities to increase citizen’s access to services at the primary healthcare centres.

Mustafa noted that the board was not immune to the ‘Japa Syndrome’, adding that it had affected the number of its personnel and service delivery.

He, however, said that the exit replacement system of the state which ensures automatic replacement of personnel had assisted to cushion in the effect.

“Apart from that, we did a massive recruitment in 2022 and employed 980 staff. We are planning to double that number in 2024 and have made provision for that in our budget,” he said.

According to him, renewed focus on primary level of care is part of the state’s effort geared toward improving healthcare services at the grassroot level.

He noted that it would also strengthen health systems and be more proactive in detecting early signs of epidemics and responses.

Mustafa disclosed that the 22 PHCs undergoing rehabilitation in the five divisions of the state were near completion, while four new PHCs would be constructed along the state’s prototype design.

He said that the rehabilitation and construction of new PHCs was an ongoing effort, critical to early response, to surges in demand for healthcare services.

Mustafa emphasised that the state’s PHCs system revitalisation was to enhance quality and sustainable health care service delivery and achieve universal health coverage.

Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that an estimated 75 per cent of the projected health gains from the Sustainable Development Goals could be achieved through PHC.

According to WHO, scaling up PHC interventions across low and middle-income countries can save 60 million lives and increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years by 2030.

NAN/Jane Aluko