Doctors in Federal Government-owned hospitals in Lagos State are to begin an indefinite strike on May 18, in solidarity with doctors sacked by state government.Lagos State Government sacked 788 doctors in its employment for failing to respond to queries.
The government queried the doctors for embarking on a three-day warning strike.
Dr Adetunji Adenekan, the President, Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), announced the sympathy strike on Thursday at a news conference in Lagos.
He said that the doctors in the Federal Government hospitals would embark on the strike under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ARDis an affiliate of the NMA.
Adenekan described the State Government’s sack of its doctors and the government’s refusal to negotiate with the doctors as draconian, adding that the actions were in disregard to the rule of law.
The doctor said that the sympathy strike was to show that the actions were unacceptable and should not be allowed to persist.
``The ARD-LUTH having followed these events closely from the beginning will like to state that these draconian actions of the Lagos State Government are unacceptable by any standard.
``We view the attitude of the government as an insult on doctors, the medical profession and patients.
``By sacking a total of 788 doctors, the state has succeeded in increasing the patients-doctors ratio to 50,000 to one.
``On this note, the ARD-LUTH as an affiliate body of the NMA, has resolved to stand totally with our parent body - NMA - by complying fully with its directive on this strike,’’ he said.
He said that patients already on admission would be attended to during the strike but emergency units would be locked, while clinics would not hold and new patients would not be admitted.
Adeneken implored members of the association and other NMA affiliates in the state to comply with the strike directive.
He said that the association would continue to work closely with the NMA to seek a speedy and amicable resolution of the conflict.
Adenekan admitted that doctors swore to an oath to dedicate themselves to saving lives but urged public support to the doctors’ efforts to rejuvenate the medical profession.
He called on the National Assembly to wade into the conflict to facilitate its resolution in the interest of the health of Nigerians.
NAN reports that the state Chairman of the NMA, Dr Edamisan Temiye, had on Wednesday announced that the members of the association would embark on strike to protest the state government’s failure to recall the sacked doctors. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
but what is this now? wetin concern agbero with Overload, im tired of these doctors sef. why would Fed Govt staff go on strike based on what their state govt has done.
ReplyDelete