No fewer than 518 new health professionals will join Ahmadu Bello University Teaching University (ABUTH) Zaria to mitigate the negative impact of `japa syndrome’ and strengthen healthcare delivery services at the hospital.

Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Ahmed Umdagas, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Zaria.

He stated that the hospital has a shortage of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health workers caused by the migration of healthcare professionals abroad, known as ‘japa syndrome’.

Umdagas said the hospital had received over 7500 applications at the expiration of the vacancy advertisement. However, the CMD said the approval we got was for 518 officers.

“We have completed the exercise and by the first quarter of 2025, the hospital will have additional 518 staff towards improving the human resources for health in the hospital.

“We believe that injecting this cohort of staff would greatly strengthen health outcomes in the facility,’’ the CMD said.

Umdagas said in the area of manpower development, over 460 staff of the hospital received training, both local and international, towards improving health outcomes; stressing that such training will improve in 2025.