NMA protests resident doctors’ sack

•Open further talks with union, Ajimobi tells Fed Govt
Nigerian doctors, under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), protested yesterday at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Federal Government’s sack of over 16,000 resident doctors.
NMA is also asking the government to lift the ban on doctors’ residency training.
It noted that the sack would retard medical practice because “it is the building-block of medicine”.
Lagos State NMA chairman Dr Tope Ojo said the solution was for the government to dialogue with the doctors and an “unconditional” reverse the sack order.
The union leader said the government should recall the sacked doctors to hasten discussions on an amicable solution.
Ojo said this would save the Health sector from imminent collapse.
He added: “Doctors should not be threatened with sack.”
According to him, sacking the resident doctors means shutting down the hospitals because “an injury to one is an injury to all”.
Ojo said doctors were not asking for a pay rise but for a Universal Health Coverage under the government’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The union leader explained that only 30 per cent of Nigerians were covered under the programme, whereas “it should be 100 per cent”.
Lagos State NMA Second Vice Chairman, Dr Olusegun Akinwotu, noted that banning doctors’ residency training to prevent crisis in the sector was unreasonable.
He said: “Resident doctors constitute over 50 per cent of the medical workforce in teaching hospitals across the country. Sacking them is like killing the patients, because they help consultants during surgery and teach house officers.”
The NMA presented a letter on their demands to LUTH’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof Akin Osibogun, who was represented by the hospital’s Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), Prof Chris Bode, to the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu.
Prof Osibogun said their message would be delivered to the minister.
He said medicine is a noble profession, adding that protesting doctors should go about their activities peacefully.
Prof Osibogun said: “The situation currently on ground calls for sober reflection and moderation. I am sure intervention will be carried out by the good people of Nigeria.
“We are doctors. It is expected of us to be of high moral conduct. We must conduct ourselves with decorum. Let us not constitute a danger. I pray that peace will soon return to our body and country soon.”
Also, the Oyo State branch of the association protested yesterday what it called the “illegal” sack of its members.
Over 1,000 resident doctors, led by their chairman, Dr Muideen Olatunji, marched on the streets of Ibadan for the protest, after their congress.
Addressing reporters after submitting a letter through Governor Abiola Ajimobi to President Goodluck Jonathan, Olatunji said no doctor should accept or collect any sack letter.
He added: “No doctor in this state should sign any register opened by the government or its agents. For the avoidance of doubt, no doctor, no matter how hungry, should pick up any low appointment with the government hospitals, as directed by the circular.”
Olatunji said any of its members who flouts the directive is on his own.
According to him, the NMA directed doctors to work for the containment of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak.
He urged government at all levels to ensure that people under surveillance for Ebola virus infection do not travel outside their domain.
Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has urged the Federal Government to enter into further negotiations with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to resolve the impasse on the sack of over 16,000 resident doctors.
The governor spoke yesterday in Ibadan, the state capital, when he addressed members of the state chapter of the NMA, led by its Chairman, Dr. Muideen Olatunji.
The members visited the governor during their peaceful protest against Federal Government’s sack of resident doctors.
Ajimobi noted that rather than resort to punitive measure, the Federal Government should have continued dialoguing with the doctors to reach a compromise on their requests.
The governor said the sack of the resident doctors would worsen the deplorable state of health care delivery in the land and lead to an increase in the death rate.
Olatunji said members of the association condemned the Federal Government’s action.
The union leader presented a letter of protest to Ajimobi to be delivered to the Federal Government.
The NMA chairman said government at all levels should improve health facilities and improve doctors’ welfare.
He added that no doctor in the state should accept or collect any sack letter or sign any register opened by the government.