President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Abdulwahed Omar, has called for the immediate reinstatement of the resident doctors who were recently sacked by the Federal Government.
Member of the Nigerian Medical Association yesterday, took to major streets in Lagos, Ibadan, Akure in Ondo State, to protest against the purported sack of 16,000 resident doctors.
Omar said in an electronic mail on Monday that the decision of the government should be reversed in view of the current health challenges facing the country.
“The recent mass dismissal of resident doctors in federal hospitals across the country by the Federal Government is ill-advised, and therefore should be re-considered and reversed given prevailing health challenges.
“What the country needs urgently is recruitment of more health professionals, well equipped public hospitals, and a well-organised health system capable of responding to the health concerns of our growing population and not sacking of any category of health personnel.
“We believe the Federal Government was misadvised and also misled by this action.
“It is clearly unwarranted to sack doctors just as we are collectively faced with the challenge of the Ebola virus. It is even more dangerous to sack medical personnel in a country of over 170 million people with a ratio of one doctor to over 5,000 patients,” he stated.
Umar urged the government to give special attention to the protection of health workers, who were more endangered by the Ebola outbreak by providing them with the requisite work tools and motivation.
“The Federal Government needs to carry out an urgent audit of our public health sector to determine the state of the sector in terms of equipment, personnel and funding,” he stated.
Meanwhile, in Lagos, the doctors marched around the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, in their white laboratory coats carrying placards reading ‘No more overseas checkup with tax payers’ money,’ ‘We say no to Chukwu and Jonathan,’ ‘Sack of 16,000 resident doctors, death sentence for Nigerians!’ ‘Sack Ebola, not Doctors,’ ‘Sack Boko Haram not Doctors’, ‘Sack Chukwu not Doctors” and ‘No to casualisation of doctors,’ among others.
Addressing the protesters, State Chairman of the association, Dr. Tope Ojo, who addressed journalist at the premises of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, said that the sack of resident doctors in all Federal Teaching Hospitals in the country would lead to imminent collapse of the health sector.
