The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the threat by the Federal Ministry of Health to employ temporary doctors to replace resident doctors currently on a warning strike.
The association made the demand in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday and jointly signed by its president, Professor Mike Ogirima and Secretary-General, Dr Yusuf Sununu.
Members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had, January 18, began a seven-day warning strike expected to end on January 25.
NMA noted that the government made the threat in a circular directed to Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Tertiary Hospitals, on Thursday, by the Director of Health Services of the Federal Ministry of Health.
The association emphasised that members of NARD were on strike to enforce their demands, which bordered on the poor state of health of Nigerians and the welfare of its members, following the failure of government to meet the demands.
It identified the issues as unattractive poor working environments in public hospitals, which it said had continually been weakening the workforce in the health sector through brain drain.
The association alleged efforts to disrupt the harmony among healthcare workers by some individuals within the Federal Ministry of Health, which were threatening to completely derail the health system.
It said NARD was bothered by selective and biased implementation of the contents of various government circulars and agreements with regard to the remuneration of doctors.
“The poor state of our health institutions has not been in doubt as demonstrated by the World Health Organisation ranking the Nigerian Health System as number 187 among 191 countries in 2015.
“The repeated patronage of foreign hospitals by our top government officials and increasing medical tourism to hospitals overseas by well to do Nigerians,’’ the NMA noted.
“We, therefore, call on the Honourable Minister of Health to urgently and decisively deal with the saboteurs of government policies within the Federal Ministry.
“It is expedient that government works urgently to sincerely address all the issues that are responsible for the ongoing crises in the Nigerian healthcare sector to avoid unnecessary loss of lives,” the statement added.
It added: “ NMA wishes to state explicitly that it will not fold its arms and watch the training of medical specialists and the healthcare system being desecrated by any individual or clique.
“We shall exploit every means within the law to ensure that justice is done and that the Residency Training Programme, all doctors practising in Nigeria and the welfare of all healthcare workers are treated with the utmost seriousness they deserve.’’
The association restated its commitment to ensure close monitoring of the developments and called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on government officials not to further jeopardise the health of Nigerians.
The current threat is not the first time that government has threatened to sack striking doctors.
In June 2016 the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, directed chief executive officers of Federal Government tertiary health institutions to fill vacancies created by resident doctors on strike. .
The Goodluck Jonathan administration also sacked 16,000 resident doctors on Aug. 14, 2014 for participating in a strike.
The doctors, who were on strike for more than six months, especially during the Ebola outbreak in the country, were recalled two weeks after the directive.