Tag: NMA

A set of triplet delivered eight weeks ago are  being held by the management of a private hospital over inability of the parents to raise the sum of N723, 100.00 to offset medical bills.

Mr Godswill Echenim, father of the triplets told reporter  in Asaba that he took his wife to the private medical facility due to the prolong nationwide strike by doctors under the aegis of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in public hospitals.

Echenim, a self-employed man said the medical bill was too much for his family to bear and appealed to the government and good spirited individuals to come to his aid.

“For about seven weeks since the kids were delivered we have been at this hospital. I had registered my wife for ante-natal at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba but because of the strike by doctors, I brought her here for the delivery.

“The kids were delivered through caesarean section and were taken to the incubator where they spent over one month before their discharge. Now the bill has come up to N723, 100.00 and still running because we are still here.”

“So I am appealing to the government and the general public for help so that I would be able to bring up the babies in the way of God. We have spent over N60,000 for the nurse who was taking care of the babies at night.

“I have started buying food for them and they take a full can for three days. We buy pampers for N1500.00 which lasts for just three days. This is besides the drugs we have been buying. It is just too much for us, we need help from the public,” Echenim appealed.

He said the triplets were his first set of children since he got married over five years ago, adding that his wife had remained jobless after her graduation from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State.

 

 

The House of Representatives Committee on Health has asked members off the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to apologise to Nigerians for their “unpatriotic” strike.

The NMA ended on Sunday night its national strike after 55 days.

The House committee said the apology was necessary because scores of people died and many others put into hardship of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that entered the country while the strike was on.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja on the suspension of the NMA strike, House Committee Chairman Ndudi Elumelu said the failure to obey the agreements between the parties was fundamental to the crisis.

He said: “The leadership of the NMA has been described as unpatriotic, even by other Nigerian doctors and the public because of various health challenges confronting the nation and the scourge of Ebola Virus Disease, which erupted during the strike.

“Patriotic Nigerians at home and abroad have passionately condemned the action of the current leadership of the NMA. The committee has a final word for NMA. The NMA has suspended the strike, but it has failed to do one thing: apologise to Nigerians. The NMA should apologise to Nigerians for all the inconveniences and lives that were lost during the strike.”

The lawmaker noted that although the suspension of the strike was commendable, but it would have been avoided had the agreements between the two parties were obeyed and implemented.

He said obeying agreements was a lesson that must be learnt from the strike.

Elumelu said: “One of such lessons is the need to obey agreements. The law is pacta sunt servanda, meaning: agreements must be obeyed.

“If parties had obeyed previous agreements executed between the NMA and representatives of the Federal Government, the strike would have been averted. The lesson to learn here is that we must at all times obey contents of agreements freely entered into in order to avert crisis.”

The lawmaker urged the government and the NMA to be mindful of the resolutions reached by the House Committee during its third stakeholders’ meeting on the suspended strike.

He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the committee resolved as follows: that the Federal Ministry of Health granted the request of the NMA for a new circular, as demanded by NMA; that the Federal Government shall pay two months’ salary arrears to members of the NMA on or before July 31, 2014; that the balance of salary arrears would be reflected in the 2015 Budget and paid to members of the NMA; that the new salary structure of doctors would be reflected in the 2015 Budget and doctors will begin to get the new salary structure effective from January 2015; and that in view of (1) and (4) above, the NMA is expected and requested to call off the strike immediately in the interest of Nigerians.”

 

 

The lawmaker said in its meetings with representatives of the Federal Government, the NMA raised a 24-point demand, which includes the fact that Mr. President must appoint a Surgeon-General as Minister of Health.

“The question every Nigerian is asking is: was there anytime Mr. President abolished such appointment? Secondly, was there any bill that was passed at the National Assembly that Mr. President had refused to assent?” Elumelu queried.

 

Activities resumed fully yesterday at the various government hospitals in Abuja.

Members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), who had been on strike since July 1, heeded the directive of their President, Dr Lawrence Obembe, to to attend to patients.

Our correspondent, who visited the National Hospital and the general hospitals in Wuse, Garki and Maitama, said consultants and medical officers had a busy day.

The doctors were also said to have been surprised by Federal Government’s suspension of the residency training programme.

A few National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members and the house officers were on ground to complement the efforts of some medical officers on duty.

A consultant, who spoke in confidence, told our correspondent at the Wuse General Hospital that he was overwhelmed by the number of patients waiting for him.

He said the situation would be worse as from today, when more patients would seek treatment.  The doctor said Federal Government’s suspension of the residency training programme was the solution to the shortage of personnel in the Public Health sector.

He said: “The Federal Government cannot just decide to dispense with the services of about 16,000 doctors. It does not make any sense to me. How do they want to replace them when we did not even have enough human resources in the Health sector?

“The question on the lips of everybody now is: where will the government recruit medical personnel to fill the vacuum? Are they going to spend huge foreign currencies to recruit expatriates? What is the sense in that?”

 

The doctor urged President Goodluck Jonathan, to reverse the unpopular decision to sack the resident doctors in the interest of the masses because further delay in doing that could lead to massive emigrants of the affected doctors.

“I want to believe that the federal government was waiting for the NMA to call off its strike so that it could reverse its suspension of the Residency Training Programme because it would take many years to produce 16,000 doctors in Nigeria,” he added.

Also, spokesman of the National Hospital, Dr. Tayo Haastrup, confirmed to our correspondent that medical officers and consultants have resume and had been attending to patients.

Also, medical personnel, especially nurses and other supporting staff of public health institutions have exercised great caution in attending to patients as they no longer allowed physical contact.

Our correspondent learnt that in the hospitals that the nurses and other supporting staff wore disposable hands gloves and discourage the former practice of patients sitting close to each other.

Unlike the situation at the outbreak of the disease, where the nurses were allegedly scared to attend to anyone who complains of malaria or fever, they are now courageous enough to administer treatment on them based on doctor’s prescription.

One of the nurses in the Garki General Hospital, who pleaded anonymity, said the provision of disposable hands gloves to them by the government gave her colleagues the necessary courage to attend to malaria patients.