Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire has appealed to the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to rescind its strike action and seek an amicable way to resolve the issue on ground to save the lives of innocent Nigerians in need of medical care.
The Minister who made this appeal during a press briefing in Abuja said seven out of the 12 demands made by the Union are for implementation by State Government and not within the realm of the Federal Government.
He insisted that matter concerning some state-employed doctors is not a good reason to organise a national strike.
The demand by Resident Doctors from the Federal Government includes salary areas, review of current hazard allowance to 50 per cent of consolidated basic salaries of all health workers, payment of covid-19 inducement allowance in state-owned tertiary health institutions, immediate payment of salaries for members in state tertiary institutions among others.
The Minister of Health, Dr Ehanire disclosed that five of the demands which are implementable by the Federal Government are currently being addressed.
The Minister of State for Health, Sen Adeleke Mamora who reacted to the alleged threat by the Federal Government to House officers who were planning to join the strike, insisted that House Officers are not yet fully registered doctors but are Student Doctors undergoing training.
The Minister who assured that services in all government hospitals will continue directed Chief Medical Officers and Consultants in Government Hospital across the country to ensure that all patients that come for medical care are attended to.
