Respond To Doctors’ Demands

On 1 July, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, began what it called an indefinite strike to press home some agitations and demands it started fighting for over a period of time, but which it thinks the Federal Government had refused to meet.

According to the NMA President, Kayode Obembe, part of the 24-point demand include reserving the position of Chief Medical Director to only medical doctors, appointment of Surgeon-General of the Federation, passage of National Health Bill and providing security for doctors.

The NMA also wants increase in duty, hazard and specialist allowances, as well as budget for residency training programme, and reserving the title of consultants to only medical doctors, among others.

We feel some of these demands are very simple to resolve if the government at the centre is really sincere. These issues have lingered for long and the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, knew there was crisis in waiting. Just like in other sectors that have witnessed government’s neglect, why did the government jettison negotiations till the situation degenerated into a full-scale crisis?

Professor Chukwu further showed his inability to manage a major crisis when he challenged the medical doctors to a debate days ago. If this  is aimed at winning public sentiments to the side of the government over the strike action, then it is a failed attempt since the people no longer even have confidence in their government. Moreso, the same Minister abandoned the burning sector and travelled abroad in the heat of the crisis, as confirmed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Ifeanyi Okowa.

The citizens know that most health institutions in the country are hardly patronised by those in government. They prefer to travel abroad for routine medical check up because they consider facilities at the nation’s hospitals not good enough whereas it is these same government officials that neglected those facilities. The doctors are also human beings living in the country. Thus, they experience the same pains caused by government’s neglect like every other Nigerian.

Rather than engage in public altercation with the NMA after it failed over the years to either meet the association’s demands or convince the doctors on why the government cannot meet such demands, we think the government should focus on serious and sincere negotiations that would get the doctors back to work. We support the NMA  demands. The government should respond to these  demands.