Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has called on health institutions in Nigeria to embrace modern medical practices as a way of addressing brain drain in the health sector.
Diri made the call in Yenagoa when the Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) High-Impact Intervention in Medical Sciences visited him. Represented by his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the governor stressed the need to adopt biomedical engineering and emergency medicine, noting that the country’s medical practice remains largely traditional.
He said improved medical infrastructure and the injection of new areas such as biomedical engineering into institutions would help discourage professionals from leaving the country. Diri pledged that his administration would continue to channel more resources into healthcare and education, while expressing appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Education and TETFund for the intervention project at Bayelsa Medical University.
Leader of the ministerial monitoring team, Prof. Saad Ahmed, said the project was initiated by the Federal Government to revitalise medical schools and reduce the migration of health workers. He noted that funds had been provided to 18 medical schools nationwide for infrastructure and equipment in medicine, dentistry, nursing sciences, and pharmacy.
(NAN)