Nigerians seeking medical treatment in government-owned hospitals may go elsewhere as the Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, Wednesday, directed its members in the states and local governments to, in solidarity, join their colleagues in the federal sector in the ongoing health workers strike by midnight (Wednesday).
Meanwhile, the Joint Health Sector Unions/Assembly of Health-care Professional Associations (JOHESU/AHPA), pharmacists under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Lagos State branch, have stressed the urgent need to mobilise health professionals in the private sector to join the strike.
Also, management of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH, Rivers State, has commenced recruitment of casual staff to fill in the gap while the health workers remain on strike.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, Biobelemoye Josiah, JOHESU National Chairman, who announced the decision to extend the industrial action to states and local government, blamed the government for not showing any seriousness to meet the demands of the union for adjustment of the CONHESS salary structure which affects over 95 percent of the health workforce nationwide.
His words: “The government has not shown any seriousness to meet our demands and the existence of fifth columnists in and out of government who are bent on escalating and prolonging the strike for their selfish interest of privatisation of government hospitals, and buy these government legacies for themselves has not helped out.
“Since the government has not shown enough commitment to tow the path of honour and meet our demands, especially, the core demand for the upward adjustment of CONHESS salary structure as agreed in the Memorandum of Terms of Settlement signed on September 30, 2017 with JOHESU, we are left with no other option than to direct states and local governments to commence and join the strike action nationwide from midnight of May 9, 2018.”
In a statement, Chairman PSN Lagos state branch, Mr Bola Adeniran, said JOHESU/AHPA may be compelled to encourage private health workers to consider staging symbolic shut down of their private facilities on selected days in strategic cities if after two weeks the on-going strike was unresolved.
Adeniran said: “At the root of these avoidable strikes is the desire for benefit packages and privileges for all concerned. These clamours from all sides of the divide appear to have been grossly mismanaged by government at all levels over the years.”
Adeniran said the call was part of interventions taken after a review of its agreement with the aggrieved health workers.
“The reality is that health workers seek an adjustment in their salary scale like was done with CONMESS scale to ensure parity in the CONHESS and CONMESS scale which is a fundamental agreement couched in the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Federal Ministry of Health.
“At the UPTH, the management has commenced recruitment of ad-hoc staff to ease impact of the strike on patients.
Chief Medical Director of UPTH, Prof. Henry Ugbomah, explained that the engagement of ad-hoc staff became imperative to ease impact of the strike on patients as critical units hitherto shut down due to the strike were now opened for service delivery.
He said, “After careful periodic review of our activities, management resolved to expand the scope of service delivery by engaging personnel from the Red Cross, engaging ad-hoc staff, while some critical units closed following the strike are now opened for service”
It will be recalled that the leadership of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, had disparaged the on-going strike by JOHESU, appealing to government to honour its agreements with all health workers.
