Executive Secretary, Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Babatunde Olatunji, has said that Oyo state needs more doctors as there are currently less than 200 doctors in the state.
Dr Olatunji decried that the health sector is grappled with inadequate staff, and the state had the last recruitment of the major cadre of staff in 2006.
Disclosing this during his appearance at the state House of Assembly, on Monday, Olatunji said it was imperative for the current government to invest in the recruitment of human resources and in the maintenance of health facilities.
From about four per cent of the budget devoted to the health sector, he called for an increase to at least 10 per cent and a sustainable finance model for the health system of the state to function efficiently.
“The last recruitment of the major cadre of staff in Oyo State was in 2006; since then, there has not been any recruitment into the system, despite the fact that people are leaving in droves, retiring and dying.
“Due to poor funding, the system will continue to go down. If we don’t do anything, as a matter of emergency, the system will go down,” he said.
Speaking further, Nigerian Tribune reported that he attributed the sorry state of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) to the failure of local government areas to invest in their maintenance.
Speaking in the same vein, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Bashir Bello, bemoaned that the unstable local government system and its attendant change of chairmen had affected attention given to PHCs.
He assured that once Governor Seyi Makinde got the needed trust, funding to the health sector would be increased.
In his remarks, the Speaker, Rtd. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, assured of the support of the state assembly in approving of increase of funding to health sector, particularly as the current government was already designing the 2020 budget.
