The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) Bauchi state chapter has decried the inequitable distribution of Medical health workers in Bauchi state.
The chairman of the Union, Alhaji Dauda Shuaibu while lamenting the situation in an interview with journalists on Monday in Bauchi, said large number of health workers are concentrated in the urban areas to the detriment of people living in the rural areas.
“As a union we are disturbed with the concentration of health workers in the urban facilities which makes the personnel redundant”. Shuaibu said.
“While the facilities in the rural areas, especially hard to reach areas are understaffed to the detriment of the people of the communities. We are aware of the attempt by the state government to resolve this by introducing staff redistribution policy”, Shuaibu added.
“Health workforce maldistribution exacerbates the shortage problems, it jeopardizes access to services resulting in poorer health status among people living in hard-to-reach areas.
The Chairman who urged the state government to employ more health workers to fill the declared vacancies, called for the introduction of incentives to attract and retain health workers in the deprived areas.
According to him, “lack of adequate health workers in deprived communities has contributed to the decline of quality health care delivery in the state”.
He commended the state government for declaring a state of emergency on the health sector, saying it is the right step in the right direction.
The Chairman charged the union members to remain committed to their work and be law abiding.
