Doctors to shut down hospitals nationwide on July 1

 

 

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has directed all doctors in Nigeria’s public hospitals to proceed on strike effective from July 1, except the government meets their demands.

The association has also condemned the decision of government to provide 30 per cent universal coverage for Nigeria by the end of 2015.

Briefing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the president of the association, Dr. Kayode Obembe, requested from the government the fate of the remaining part of the population.

He said the decision on strike became imperative, given the poor developments in health sector which, according to him, would soon face anarchy, if the trends continue.

According to him, other health professionals were attempting to usurp the functions of doctors, which they were not trained for.

He also accused the federal government and leadership of the Federal Ministry of Health of failing to take ‘necessary measures’ to halt the development.

Nigeria’s health sector has been bedeviled with crises arising from government policies and employees, comprising various professionals, who fight for supremacy. Services have been paralysed in public hospitals severally in two years over strikes by the employees who constitute themselves into unions.

Some of the issues NMA wants to be addressed by government include cancelation of the post of directors in hospitals; that Grade Level 12 be skipped for medical doctors and that ‘no medical/dental practitioners should be on that grade level anymore’.

Others are that “Surgeon- General of the Federation must be appointed with immediate effect; immediate withdrawal of the central Bank of Nigeria, CBN circular authorising the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, MLSCN, to approve licences for the importation of In-Vitro Diagnostics, IVDs.”

Others are the immediate release of circular on retirement age for medical doctors as agreed with the Federal Government; that in the interest of harmony in Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, government should pay the salaries of our members in the centre as agreed on October 21, 2013.

“That immediate concrete steps must be put in place for the reintegration of our members back into the IPPIS platform; and, all attempts to coerce house officers not to join NARD must stop.

“In the light of the foregoing therefore, the NMA hereby gives the government 14 days to meet all its demands as stated above or have our members called out for a resumption of the total and indefinite withdrawal of service suspended on 5th of January, 2014.

“The NMA is taking this painful route because our silence and gentle approach to these contending issues have been taken for granted. We have to take this action in order to save the health care delivery system from anarchy that is palpably imminent,” the association stated