—— Says many rural health facilities are manned by only a few workers who are overstretched and unable to meet the growing health needs of the population.

A Public Affairs Analyst and Secretary, Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria, Enugu State Chapter, Dr.Chikezie Obasi, made this known while speaking on a topic “Enugu State 2026 Budget: A Periscopic Analysis,” on Freedom Square, a programme on Solid FM, 100.9, anchored by Uchenna Cyril Anioke.

Dr. Obasi, appealed to the Enugu State Government to urgently deploy more human resources to rural health facilities across the state in order to improve healthcare delivery and reduce preventable deaths.

He noted that inadequate staffing and incentives remains one of the major obstacles to effective service delivery.

According to him, “ the greatest challenge we have in health sector is not even the infrastructure. It is the human resources. We need to open the budget very well to accommodate putting incentives for the health workers in the rural areas. The greatest challenge we have is the recruitment of workers not infrastructure. That is the greatest challenge. I have gone to some health facilities, you see beautiful infrastructure, you see other workers but when you want to get the nurses, doctors, midwives, you will hear that they are not there. Most of them are even rendering free services. Sometimes you employ them, they don’t stay. The big question is what is that 10% allotted in the budget going to be? Is it going to be for building infrastructure or facilities where they will live. Most of us have told the local government, why don’t you build places where the health workers will live. Why not make them stay in a safe environment. So if you don’t have those things, you may build all the infrastructure but the health workers may not be there.”

He explained that the shortage of qualified medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, midwives and community health workers has forced many rural residents to travel long distances to urban centres for basic medical care, often at great cost and risk.

Dr. Obasi commended the Enugu State Government for its ongoing efforts to strengthen the health sector but stressed that more deliberate action is required to address the imbalance between urban and rural healthcare staffing.

He therefore urged the government to prioritise the recruitment, training and equitable deployment of health workers, as well as provide incentives that would encourage professionals to accept postings in rural areas.