At Last, NMA Calls off Doctors’ Strike 25 Aug 2014 Font Size: a / A NMA Logo •Urges reversal of sack of resident physicians •Lagos airport gets screening equipment from US Paul Obi and Chinedu Eze Fifty-five days after the traumatising industrial action that paralysed the health sector, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) yesterday called off the strike. Giving its reason for calling off the strike, NMA said its decision was based on the current challenges in the country, especially the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Lagos. Addressing the press in Abuja, NMA President, Dr. Lawrence Obembe, having considered the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Senate President David Mark and other prominent Nigerians, delegates had to defer to the interventions by suspending the strike. Obembe said: “Nigeria is currently faced with health challenges and threats posed by the outbreak of the Ebola virus. Whereas concerted efforts are being made by stakeholders, including medical and dental doctors, despite the strike action to contain this outbreak.” He added: “Having considered the interventions, delegates resolved to suspend the strike in the interest of urgent national emergencies while negotiations continue. “Consequently, all medical and dental doctors are hereby directed to resume duty at their working posts with effect from 8.00 hours of Monday, 25th August, 2014.” Continuing, Obembe stated that “delegates demand the immediate withdrawal of the government circular (Reference No: C3132/v/46 of the 13th August, 2014), suspending the residency training programme and sack of over 16,000 resident doctors, who constitute about 70 per cent of doctors’ workforce in Nigeria”. Obembe, who was accompanied by the first Vice-President of NMA, Dr Titus Ibekwe, and other NMA officials, urged the government to reciprocate NMA’s goodwill by reinstating the resident doctors without punitive measures, adding that the association’s Ebola Monitoring Committee would “continue to liaise with state governments to immediately set up emergency response teams for the prevention and treatment of any outbreak of the Ebola virus in their various states”. Asked whether the decision to suspend the strike was a fall out of the new measures offered by government, Obembe said the issues pertaining to clinical governance such as restricting the title of “consultant” solely to medical doctors had been addressed. The NMA president also informed journalists that the government had accepted to pay doctors 30 per cent of their salaries as a hazard allowance, up from N5,000 previously paid by government. Obembe further explained that the increment of the hazard allowance had become sacrosanct considering the increasing hazardous cases which doctors face following the outbreak of the Ebola virus. The federal government had suspended the Residency Training Programme and sacked 16,000 doctors who were in the programme in federal tertiary hospitals nationwide. The government’s decision was premised on the doctors’ rejection of all entreaties to go back to work, even after the outbreak of the Ebola virus, which led the federal government to declare a health emergency. The NMA however thanked the Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Senators Ifeanyi Okowa, Chris Ngige, Tunde Ogbeha, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, elders in the medical profession, the media and the general public for their enormous contributions towards ending the industrial logjam. Expectedly, the suspension of the strike elicited excitement and relief in some quarters, given the peril society had been subjected to while the action lasted. One of those thrilled by the suspension of the strike was Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who yesterday commended the NMA for its action in the overall interest of the generality of the citizenry. Speaking through his Senior Special Assistant, Media, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Wakama, Amosun said the decision could not have come at a better time when the nation is battling to curb the spread of the dreaded Ebola virus. “People should always find amicable ways of resolving a crisis. I want to commend the leadership of Nigerian Medical Association for having found a way around the issues that led to the industrial action in the first place. “I am happy that the strike has been called off at this very crucial time, when the guidance and expertise of our medical personnel are most crucial in containing the Ebola virus,” he said. He also expressed the hope that stakeholders would be able to find a final resolution to the dispute while negotiations continue. US Donates Thermo-scanners Also, in a bid to contain the spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria, the United States government has donated equipment worth $5,000 to boost the screening capacity at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos (MMIA). Making the donation at the Conference Room of MMIA at the weekend, the US Consul-General in Nigeria, Jeffrey Hawkins, expressed satisfaction with the timely response of the Nigerian government to the contagious disease since the outbreak in the country following its importation by Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian on July 20. He commended the measures already put in place at the airport, pointing out that EVD was neither a Nigerian nor a West African problem but a problem to humanity as a whole. Hawkins said the donation of the equipment was a symbol of willingness on the part of the American government to assist Nigeria in any way possible to combat the scourge. Known as infrared thermometers or non-contact thermometers, the portable handheld equipment has the ability to measure the body temperature of passengers from a safe distance. The consul-general also commended the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for providing the necessary infrastructure for the Port Health Services and collaborating agencies to effectively discharge their duties in the face of the threat posed by the virus. The screening procedure, which was initially restricted to inbound passengers from West African countries, has since been expanded to include all inbound and outbound passengers from all destinations. The team that accompanied Hawkins also commended the agencies at the airport for their collaboration since the first reported case of the virus in Nigeria. British Ebola Patient Arrives UK Meanwhile, a British man who contracted the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has arrived back in the UK on board an RAF jet. The healthcare worker landed at Londons RAF Northolt in a specially-equipped C-17 aircraft and will be transported to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. The man is not currently seriously unwell, a Department of Health (DoH) spokesman said yesterday. Health officials have stressed the risk to the UK remains very low. The DoH said the decision to return the patient to the UK was taken following clinical advice. Prof John Watson, DoH deputy chief medical officer, said they would be taken in a specially-adapted ambulance to a high level isolation unit - the only unit of its kind in the UK. It is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting the virus during the current outbreak, in which 1,427 people have died. The World Health Organization has estimated 2,615 people in West Africa have been infected with Ebola since March. Health officials reported the first cases outside West Africa - in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) yesterday. Authorities in the DRC said yesterday two people have died from Ebola in the countrys North-west. They are the first reported Ebola cases outside West Africa since the outbreak there began, although it is not clear if they are directly linked to that outbreak.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 08:26:20 +0000
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