The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) Monday, gave the Federal and State Governments September deadline to implement all pending issues affecting the health sector in the country.
This is also as the group chided governments at all levels over the poor state of health-care delivery in the country, describing the situation as pitiable.
Addressing a press conference at the end of the 26th Annual General Meeting of the Association in Enugu, the newly elected President, Dr. John Ugochukwu Onyebueze said the resident doctors were obsessed with the infrastructural condition of the hospitals as well as the penchant of many Chief Medical Directors of Teaching Hospitals to disorganize the structure of the residency programme.
Onyebueze, flanked by the General Secretary, Dr. Aneke Emmanuel, Treasurer, Dr. Aloysius Ifedinso Ugwuoke, the Public Relations Officer, Dr. Asinobi Ugoeze as well as the UNTH chapter chairman of NARD, Dr. Chukwuma Oraegbunam declared that the union “cannot guarantee industrial harmony in the health sector if this persists beyond the payment of September salaries.”
He outlined the burning issues to include, improvement of infrastructure, urgent action against poliomyelitis and lassa fever, as well as immediate release and implementation of the report on the Residency Training Programme.
He declared: “Are you talking about the rickety beds in the accident and emergency? We do not even have gloves and emergency tools. We do not have pens to write and make prescriptions. We are saying that this thing must not continue.”
He added that “the federal government should expedite action on the release of the bailout funds for State Tertiary Health Institutions as agreed earlier.
“The Federal government should as a matter of urgency ensure the migration of all our members to the IPPIS platform.
“Centres that are not deducting pension contributions from our members should immediately commence, while all centres should ensure full remitance of deducted contributions of our members to the Pension Fund Administrators.
“In line with extant labour laws, we reject in its entirety the ‘no work no pay’ rule as currently being applied by the Federal Ministry of Health.”
He decried unjust sacking of doctors, the poor remunerations of resident doctors in State Tertiary Health Institutions (STHIs) with most having to endure many months without salaries, while others have been confined to irregular emoluments of varying percentages even in the present arduous economic conditions.
“Prominent among them are LAUTECH Ogbomosho, LTH Osogbo, NDUTH Okolobiri, ABSUTH Aba, IMSUTH Orlu, KSSH Lokoja, ESUTH Enugu, EKSUTH Ado-Ekiti”, he said, calling on the “erring managements of the above hospitals to immediately and unconditionally reinstate all unjustly sacked doctors.”
He lamented that “our members in FMC Owerri are yet to receive their December 2015 salaries despite several assurances by all parties that it would be paid.”
The NARD, however, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari and the Speaker of the House of Representatives for their continuous intervention towards the bringing stability in the health sector.
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