In a bid to tackle the shortage of healthcare personnel and improve access to quality medical services in rural communities, the Chairman of Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State, Hon. Dr. Nicholas Kemi Nshe, has introduced a special incentive package for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) medical professionals serving in the council.
Under the initiative, medical doctors posted to Shendam for their one-year national service receive ₦150,000 monthly allowance in addition to free accommodation, while nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists and other healthcare professionals are paid ₦70,000 monthly.
Nshe disclosed this at the weekend during a two-day free medical outreach organised in partnership with the NYSC under its Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) in Shendam.
According to him, the welfare package is aimed at attracting and retaining qualified healthcare professionals to bridge the manpower gap in the local government’s health sector.
“We give a doctor serving in Shendam free accommodation and pay them ₦150,000 as allowance from start to end. Nurses, pharmacists and laboratory technologists receive ₦70,000 monthly.
This is to encourage more professionals to come to Shendam,” the chairman said.
He explained that his administration was determined to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable to residents, stressing that no community should be denied medical services because of inadequate manpower.
The council chairman noted that the outreach, which provided free medical consultations, laboratory tests, medications and health education, benefited more than 600 indigent residents.
He said Shendam was selected for the programme in recognition of the longstanding relationship between the council and the NYSC.
“I have had a very robust relationship with the NYSC since 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, even before I became chairman. My hotel in this town was given to them free for over 22 years to carry out their activities,” he said.
Nshe disclosed that beyond the medical outreach, his administration has embarked on the construction and renovation of primary healthcare centres across almost all the wards in the local government and is currently building a modern medical laboratory to strengthen diagnostic services.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang for their commitment to improving healthcare delivery, saying the collaboration among the three tiers of government was helping to expand access to quality healthcare despite prevailing economic challenges.
Speaking at the event, the Plateau State Coordinator of the NYSC, Mr. Jonathan Iliya Yavala, said the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers was designed to provide free healthcare services to underserved communities across the country.
Yavala said more than 400 residents had been attended to by Saturday afternoon, expressing confidence that the number of beneficiaries would exceed 600 before the end of the exercise.
“We have attended to more than 400 people and still counting. By the end of the programme, we expect between 600 and 700 beneficiaries. It has been very successful. We exhausted our drugs and had to procure additional supplies,” he said
According to him, the medical team comprised 11 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and medical laboratory scientists, who screened and treated residents for malaria, hepatitis B and C, hypertension, diabetes and other common ailments.
In his goodwill message, the Long Gamai of Shendam, His Royal Highness Martins Shaldas III, commended the council and the NYSC for bringing the outreach to the area, describing the intervention as timely for vulnerable residents who could not afford medical treatment.
Members of the medical team, Nurse Nfonuso Samuel and Dr. Tomisin Ilori, said the outreach not only offered free treatment but also created awareness on hypertension, diabetes, antenatal care, routine immunisation and other preventive health measures.
Some beneficiaries, including Miskhoom Silas Nda, Josephine Yilmen and Jessica Goyit, expressed appreciation to the Shendam Local Government Council and the NYSC for the intervention, describing it as life-saving.
