According to reports, a middle-aged woman died in Nasarawa State as a result of a resident doctors’ 5-day warning strike at the state-owned Dalhatu Specialist hospital.
Following the expiration of the three-week deadline given to Governor Abdullahi Sule to address concerns relating to their welfare in the state, the Nasarawa State Council of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) on Wednesday started a five-day warning strike.
When our correspondent visited the hospital, the name of the pregnant patient was not immediately available. She was reportedly scheduled for a cesarean procedure on Wednesday when the strike action caused her to be abandoned.
Recall that on June 13, the resident doctors gave the state administration a three-week deadline to resolve the welfare concerns affecting its members.
Following the state’s resident doctors’ indefinite strike, family members and friends have started to evacuate their loved ones.
Dr. Peter Attah, the state’s NMA chairman, revealed to journalists in Lafia that the association’s emergency meeting on Tuesday in Lafia was where the decision to go on strike was made.
The meeting with the delegation of the government led by the Deputy Governor, according to the Chairman, sparked the walkout. Dr. Emmanuel Akabe twice without the government making any sincere commitments.
He said, “Unfortunately, the government is only paying lip service without showing serious concern over our demands. We met twice after our ultimatum on June 13.”
“The congress unanimously decided to withdraw its services from all 19 state government buildings from 8:00 a.m. on July 5 to 8:00 a.m. on July 10 after learning that the state government was not prepared and ready to meet our demands.
“We will call for Congress and decide on the next course of action if by Monday, July 10th, the government continues to be adamant about our demands,” Dr. Attah stated.
Because the organization prioritizes the health sector, the NMA Chairman said, “We have chosen to permit our colleagues with the Federal Medical Center to stay and attend to patients.”
We could have to invite our coworkers at FMC and private facilities to join the strike, nevertheless, if the government fails to address the outstanding issues by Monday.
We have given the state administration the opportunity to respond to our concerns and engage in discussion, but the government has shown little consideration for their plight. Due to the state’s inadequate assistance program, 88 doctors quit their jobs in 2023 alone, according to the chairman.
He cited a few of their demands, such as the failure to execute the N30,000 minimum wage and related adjustments, the failure to implement promotions for doctors and annual salary increases for more than nine years.
Other issues include not implementing the revised Hazard allowance circular and the accrued 19-month arrears, a high tax burden, insufficient workforce, and an excessive workload.
He said that Lafia and the Hospital Management Board had not promoted any of the 25 doctors who worked at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in 2014 for the past nine years.
He explained that the lack of doctors is placing such a strain on the few who have chosen to remain that doctors are now choosing to work in rural regions rather than institutions in towns.
He noted that only 33 doctors work in the state’s 19 general hospitals, which is woefully insufficient by any standard.
