The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ARD

  • Better life for the aged

    There has been a call for the society to take good care of the elderly so that they can live a more meaningful life.

    Making this call was an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Olatunji Babalola at a scientific conference organised by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) of the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos.

    The programme was organised by the ARD in collaboration with Mercy of God to the Aged Foundation. It has the theme Ageing: A Burden or a Blessing.

    Nigeria, he said, was presently undergoing a demographic transition with an increasing population of the aged, stressing that this is posing major challenges to the country.

    Near-absence of social security service for the elderly in our society is chief, he added.

    Moreover, ageing is perceived by many as a burden because it fails to tap from the intelligence of the aged.

    Babalola said ageing is a life-long process because individuals begin this process from birth as a life course.

    This process, he said, accumulated a range of experiences that may positively or negatively affect their capabilities and well-being in future.

    He said ageing and diseases are different, adding: “As people grow old, they at one time or another fall sick.

    ‘’People age because ageing is timed in their genes and because of the stress their bodies go through.”

    Babalola advised the elderly to eat more of fruits and vegetables because they can make them live longer.

    He stressed the need for the government to initiate a forum where the aged would be assured they are not being neglected.

    The governments at all levels, he said, need to develop health and financial policies to improve the well-being of the elderly.

    ‘’The aged are valued because they are the leaders, ‘’ he noted.

    Co-ordinator, Mercy of God to the Aged Foundation, Mrs Folorunsho Lawal, decried the loneliness and neglect experienced by the aged.

    Lawal said that there was the need for re-adoption of the old tradition of extended family system where everyone in the family, especially the aged are integral part of the home.

    “These people are fragile and vulnerable; they need utmost care and attention to live healthy and longer lives. The elderly are important as they are embodiment of wisdom, knowledge and ideas, and custodians of family and traditional values.

    “The aged have the capacity to disseminate wisdom and skills to the younger generation, therefore, we need the government, relations and the society to place utmost priority on their needs,” she said.

    The ARD Chairman, Dr Akintayo Akindele urged the Federal Government to subsidise the health bill for the elderly to reduce burden on their relatives.

    Akindele said the absence of social advocacy for the elderly in Nigeria had not only compounded their problems but also affected their contributions to societal growth.

    “There should be sustainability plans in the policy for the elderly. They have put in their best for the progress of the country when they were at their peak,” he said.

    Akindele called for the urgent review of the national pension system, to eliminate the sufferings of the senior citizens by ensuring they get their pensions and gratuities without stress.

  • Patients suffer as strike paralyses LUTH

    Patients suffer as strike paralyses LUTH

    Patients were at the receiving end at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) yesterday as the indefinite strike declared by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) entered day three.

    The ever-busy Accident and Emergency (A and E) Ward, Paediatric Ward and obstetrics and gynaecology unit, among others, were unusually quiet.

    There was total black-out in the hospital as electricity supply was unavailable all through the day.

    Some consultants and nurses were, however, carrying out skeletal services.

    The hospital, The Nation gathered, had discharged some patients, the day before, to seek treatment elsewhere, while new patients were turned back right from the gate.

    The strike, which coincided with the three-day warning strike earlier declared by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), paralysed all activities in the hospital.

    Many relatives were seen taking their wards to prevent their ailments from worsening, while some ailing children were discharged at the Paediatrics Ward, while those left were not attended to.

    A woman, who pleaded anonymity, said: “The nurses used to bathe our children but since the strike began, they would just give us warm water to bathe them. The only thing they do is to clean babies in the incubators. They even refuse to give my son any injection.”

    Chairman, ARD LUTH, Dr Olubunmi Omojowolo, said there was no going back on the strike until the hospital’s management accedes to doctors’ demands.

    He identified high hospital fees as the main reason doctors were striking, adding that a lot of patients are complaining about the cost of treatment.

    “In some sub-specialties, such as obstetrics and gynaecology (O and G) and dentistry, the fees are beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. Before, silting and laceration cost about N8,000 but today it has gone up to N50,000. So ARD has issues with fees of major surgeries but our focus now is on minor surgeries,” he said.

    No appreciable progress has been made by the hospital to resolve the problems. The hospital should resolve the issue of excessive taxation of doctors to allow equity and fairness as doctors were heavily taxed.

    “LUTH was implementing its own tax regimen before the Federal Government introduced hers. We were paying more under LUTH, so where was the excess going? When the government puts us on its Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) programme, we paid less before it stopped it,” Omojowolo said.

  • LUTH doctors plan indefinite strike

    LUTH doctors plan indefinite strike

    The Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) chapter of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Idi-Araba, Lagos, has given a 21-day notice to the management of the institution to begin an indefinite strike.

    This followed its allegation that the hospital’s management had not yielded to any of its demands, despite a three-day warning strike that began on Monday.

    The main reason for the action, it said, was the demand that there should be downward review of “arbitrary increase in the hospital’s fees” with its ripple effects.

    The chapter’s ARD President, Dr Olubunmi Omojowolo, explained that the sudden increases in the hospital’s fees were driving away patients in negation of the hospital’s vision and mission.

    He said: “The association is deeply concerned about the recent hike in hospital fees and the new policy, which states, for example, that patients must pay before surgery, even in an emergency. We deem this insensitive to the plight of Nigerians. The management should revisit the decision, given its attendant negative effects on the image of the hospital, residency training and, above all, the security implication.

    “The management has been given four weeks to address the issue of gross shortage of working materials and consumables after which residents will no longer be under any obligation to work in such areas or circumstances. The situation is as terrible as asking house officers to buy working materials and consumables.

    “Our residents are henceforth directed to stop compelling house officers to buy working materials and consumables.”

    The union’s Secretary General, Dr Moronkola Ramon, said other areas of contention the association wanted addressed in the next 21 days include immediate withdrawal “of the contentious letter of employment given to new residents and a new letter issued with all the strange and provocative clauses expunged”.

    Efforts to speak with the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof Akin Osibogun, were unsuccessful.

    He did not answer calls to his cell phone and did not reply to the SMS to same at the time of filing this report last night.

    Also, the association said the modality for the strike would include all resident doctors assembling at the marble floor on Monday by 8am in their clinical coats.

    Dr Omojowolo said: “We shall all wear black arm bands and carry placards. From there, we shall proceed peacefully to the Dental (Unit) and all other areas to ensure total compliance. The executives shall organise a press conference the same day. The strike is ‘total’ with no department exempted.

    “Consultants and house officers are free to work unhindered. All resident doctors must conduct themselves peacefully and with dignity.

    “A fine of N10,000 against any resident who fails to comply and other punishment, to be so determined, would be meted out to defaulting members. This is the time to emancipate ourselves from all forms of oppression by LUTH management. United we stand.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • UCH doctors suspend strike

    The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, yesterday suspended its two-month-old strike.

    The doctors began an indefinite strike on October 1 to protest anomalies in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) recently introduced by the Federal Government.

    They said they will continue the strike, if the government fails to correct the anomalies in the next one month.

    UCH-ARD President Babatunde Babasanya told reporters that they suspended the strike to honour scholars, UCH authorities and well meaning Nigerians, who appealed to them to do so and negotiate with the government.

    Babasanya said: “It is so sad that the IPPS scheme has caused most of our members to loose part of their August and September salary. Some were paid as cooks, security men, cleaners and the likes, while others did not collect any salary for these months. We were shocked that when our November salary was paid, the shortfall was not corrected. We want them to correct the anomaly when they pay December salary, so that we will not have to continue the strike.

    “We are not asking the government for excess money. It is our salary and we worked for it. We cannot cope with the financial hardship that has befallen us. The government has refused to yield to our request, but we are suspending the strike for peace to reign. The Federal Government has been shortchanging UCH about N100 million monthly since January and this has been hampering the progress of the institution.”