Doctors threaten to go on strike, lament poor working condition
- Doctors have blamed the poor medical atmosphere for the president's trip abroad
- They threatened to go on strike if the condition t=does not improve
Doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have lamented the poor facilities in the country while also lashing at President Muhammadu Buhari and other top government officials for seeking medical treatment abroad.
The Guardian reports that Dr. Mike O. Ogirima who is the president of NMA said poor medical condition was the reason government officials seek medical help outside the country.
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He said the NMA is backing the strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).
Ogirima warned that if the federal government does not back down on its threat of sacking resident doctors who are on strike, it would also join in the strike and take legal actions.
He demanded an immediate withdrawal of the threat issued by the director of health services of the Federal Ministry of Health to Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to employ temporary doctors to replace the members of NARD who are currently on a warning strike.
He said: “We are waiting what will happen by tomorrow, (which is Monday, today). The threat is unproductive. You want to do away with the professionals that are not even sufficient considering the population they serve. If the system is so fantastic why do the president and top government officials still go abroad for medical checks and treatment?
“Sacking of doctors will worsen the situation. If the federal government goes ahead with the threat, we will take full legal action against her; that will include instituting court case and going on strike if it became necessary after meeting with our members.”
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Prof. Chris Bode who is the chief medical director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital said 95 per cent of the resident doctors in the hospital are working.
“Our clinics are running, even the intensive care unit (ICU) is working at full capacity. We have not had course to resort to sacking any doctor. I commend them. However, we will compile the list of the five per cent that are not working and send to appropriate authorities. I also want to commend the consultants who are working.”
Source: Legit.ng
