Praneeta Prakash 
[File Photo]
The Ministry of Health has reported a significant decline in the resignation rates of doctors and nurses.
While responding to President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu’s address at the opening of the 2025 session of the parliament, the Health Minister stated that this is due to the strategic workforce interventions implemented since 2023.
Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu says this includes raising the retirement age from 55 to 60 years, the wage increase for civil servants, and specific measures for new retention allowances and salary increments for nursing staff.
Dr Lalabalavu says in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the Ministry recorded an alarming and unusual exodus of 221 doctors and 982 nurses.
He says these measures have yielded substantial improvements.
“Since 2023, the Ministry has witnessed a promising trend of decline in these figures. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the number of resigning doctors decreased to 48, while the number of nurses also fell to 241. As of the current fiscal year 2024-2025 to date, we’ve seen further reductions to 39 doctors and 65 nurses resigning thus far.”
Dr Lalabalavu says they have seen a noteworthy increase in healthcare workers, particularly nurses, who are re-joining the Ministry, and hopefully signalling a reversal in workforce mobility trends.
He says right sizing human resource for health is an important strategy in transforming Primary Health Care approach, and it continues to be a major priority for the government.
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