Health workers in the country will begin
an indefinite strike on Thursday (today) over sundry issues, including
the unresolved leadership crisis in the health sector, non-commencement
of residency training programme for health professionals,
non-implementation of new call duty allowance and non-payment of
arrears.
National President of Nigeria Union of
Allied Health Professionals, Felix Faniran, who announced the
commencement of the strike in Ibadan on Wednesday, accused the
presidency and Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, as being
behind the crisis in the health sector.
Faniran said, “In May 2010, the unions
in the health sector under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions
presented a memorandum to the government containing some demands. A
presidential panel headed by Justice Abdulahi Bello Gusau was set up in
August to look into the demands. This panel was inhibited from carrying
out its duties by both the Nigerian Medical Association and the Minister
of Health by way of protests and criticisms on the part of NMA while
the minister obstructed the committee by starving it of funds and
issuance of circulars to pre-empt the outcome of the panel.
“The panel managed to submit its report
in November, 2011, but till date none of the 27 recommendations of the
panel has been implemented. It should be noted that another panel, the
Ministerial Committee on Medical/Dental Practitioners Residency
Programmes, which was set up the same day with Abdulahi Bello’s
committee, did not only complete and submit its report as scheduled, its
recommendations are already being implemented.”
He added that the five-point agreement
signed between the government and the health workers’ union in May,
2012, was yet to be implemented by the government.
He explained, “These include the
promotion of our qualified members to the post of Directors in the
Federal Ministry of Health and parastatals; extension of retirement age
from 60-65 years and 70 years for non-consultants respectively; and
constitution of the management of boards of hospitals to reflect good
presence of other health care professionals rather than the present
situation where only medical practitioners dominate each board with 10
members out of 13 members.”
The effect of the strike should be blamed on government that ignored all avenues to avert it, the NUAHP president said.
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