Tina Amanda
Resident Doctors at University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH, have said they will not join the ongoing nationwide strike.
President, Association of Resident Doctors UPTH, Dr Ameh Samuel Ameh, who made this known to newsmen at UPTH on Monday, said the strike will not be in the best interest of Rivers people, as doctors are most needed now in the fight against COVID 19 pandemic.
Dr Ameh, however, called on the federal and state governments and other stakeholders to play their roles by acting immediately on the demands of the Nigerian doctors, in order to avert a crisis in the health sector.
“Concerning the nationwide strike, we have spoken to the stakeholders including the newly elected President of Nigeria Medical Association NMA, other executives of the national body, and NMA state chapter of our stand.
“We have looked at the issue of the present strike holistically and we have decided that for now, we will not be embarking on the nationwide strike as a local chapter. It has to do with the fact that we understand that NMA as a body are currently negotiating with the federal government on modalities to actualize some of the demands.
“Also, the fact that we recognize the peculiarities of the situation in UPTH as well as the country at large, because of the COVID 19 pandemic and the situation it has created, we have realized that health workers, not just doctors are playing an essential role in helping to stem the tide of the COVID 19 and to reduce the direct impact of COVID 19 on all patients across the country.
“The demands made by the Association of Resident Doctors, we understand them and we fully agree with them, but at this period in time, we have realized that it would not be in the best interest of the general public especially those in Rivers State should we embark on strike.
“We also note our own peculiarities as Association, and we appreciate the efforts made by the Hospital Management, federal and Rivers State, NCDC to mitigate some of the impacts on COVID 19 patients. We are aware that the impact of COVID 19 is non-selective because we have patients who are health workers.
“We have our health workers working to care for patients at the testing, isolation and treatment Center, this shows the impact of COVID 19 on doctors in Nigeria and what we hope to achieve.
“We understand that this fight cannot be fought alone, for health personnel to stake their lives and that of families to fight COVID 19, then, federal and state government should understand that health workers are paying the ultimate price in the health sector and their demands must be met.
“Federal government must play their own role in ensuring health workers get a fair deal. Health workers are making lots of sacrifices, some have paid the ultimate price, some have lost their lives, so, when health workers demand for basic things such as hazard allowance, insurance policies, it should be taking with all seriousness”
He further urged the federal government to do the needful by providing more personal protective equipment PPE’s, employ more health personnel to relieve the workload burden on health workers.
“The health sector in Nigeria right now is not in a perfect state, we have colleagues that are constantly leaving the country because of poor enumeration, as colleagues leave the number decreases, and as the number decreases it increases the pressure on health workers available who are overstretched.
“Clearly speaking, we need more hands. It is not just the local chapter issue, it cut across the nation, we need PPEs, these are basic things we should not be discussing about. Health workers make use lots of consumables in attending to patients, so we need PPEs’ steady supplies”
