Resident doctors to begin 3-day warning strike June 2 ----Official
The National President, Dr Jibril Abdullahi, said at a news
conference in Abuja after its ordinary general meeting that some of the main
issues were residency training and re-integration of its members into the
IPPIS.
Others are payment of three months’ salary arrears owed
doctors in Federal Medical Centre Owerri, Imo State, failure to implement the
Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS and eroding of the recent
relativity restored by the latter after a distortion of over 20 years.
``The ordinary meeting of NARD resolved that the federal
government through the Federal Ministry of Health should as a matter of urgency
take all necessary steps towards formalising the report of the inter-agency
committee on residency training.
``That in the interest of harmony in Federal Medical Centre,
Owerri, the government should pay the salaries of our members as agreed on October
21, 2013. That concrete measures must be put in place for the reintegration of
our members back into the IPPIS platform.
``Sequel to the above NARD is hereby giving the government
of Nigeria a grace period of up to the end of June 2014 to resolve these
issues; otherwise, we will have no option but to withdraw our services from the
July 1. In furtherance to this, our members agreed to commence withdrawal of
services for just three days starting from June 2, 2014 until June 4, 2014.
He added that NARD would withdraw services immediately if
the Government adjusted the Consolidated Health Salary Structure without
commensurate adjustment of the CONMESS.
``NARD will commence an immediate and indefinite withdrawal
of services should the government erode the relativity restored in the circular
of January 3, 2014.’’
Abdullahi, however, said that it was not the desire of the
association to go on strike, adding that services would not be shut down
completely.
``If there is an emergency especially with the state of
insurgency in the country, our members will go to work.’’
He expressed concern at the escalating security challenges
in the country and commiserated with Nigerians on the bomb blasts in Jos,
Nyanya and the North-East.
Abdullahi called on government at all level s to improve the
capacity of hospitals to handle the large turnover of trauma patients in the
short term and long term physical and psychological management and
rehabilitation.
He further stressed the need for residency training.
``On the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder, you cannot
provide the service you do not have. How
many psychiatrists who have the skills and capacity to deliver post-traumatic
care do we have? This is where we are always telling the government you cannot
have an improved health care service without training unless residency training
is taken seriously.
`` We cannot do much because you can teach me in theory and
if I have not seen it in practice and I have not had the chance to go through a
clinical setting where it is being done, it will be useless. In Nigeria, mental health is one of the most
neglected aspects of medicine.
``So terrorism as it is happening in the country is a
stimulus for the government to realise that we are going to have a lot of
mental health issues in the next couple of years. The Chibok girls are a group. By now, mental
experts should be consulted and a package of rehabilitation should be developed
before they are rescued. So that as soon as they are rescued they just go into
the mental rehabilitation programme."
Abdullahi called on all tiers of government to work in
synergy to protect the lives of Nigerians and ensure the safe return of the
abducted Chibok girls.
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