By Joshua Egbodo
Abuja
The House of Representatives has asked the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) to apologise to Nigerians over its 55-day old strike, saying that this was to appease for all inconveniences and the lives lost while it lasted.
The NMA, it would be recalled, suspended the strike action only on Sunday, directing its members to resume work from yesterday.
Speaking at a media briefing, the House Committee on Health accused the NMA of defying all entreaties from the National Assembly and prominent Nigerians, including the Governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, amongst others, and sustained the strike even in the face of the health challenges occasioned by the Ebola outbreak.
Leading the committee at the chat, its chairman, Ndudi Elumelu, said: “For embarking on the strike in the first instance, it is highly unfortunate that NMA shunned and ignored all aforementioned interventions and acted contrary to the revered oath of medical profession and the code of medical ethics (2004).”
The panel recalled that in its several intervention meetings with the NMA and representatives of the federal government, one of the issues the association wanted addressed was the appointment of a Surgeon-General as Minister of Health, expressing concerns that there was never a time the president abolished such appointment, and neither had been a Bill passed to that effect that the president declined assent.
“The leadership of the NMA has been described as unpatriotic even by other Nigerian doctors, as well as members of the public in view of various health challenges confronting the nation, and the scourge of Ebola virus disease which erupted during the strike period.”
Speaking further, Elumelu said while the National Assembly was aware that the government was embarking on new measures to address the several challenges in the health sector, he lamented that “the effects of the strike was devastating, as many lives were lost while hope of many in and out patients to receive quick medical attention were dashed.”
On the need to keep agreements, the lawmaker urged the NMA to work with the government in line with the resolutions reached through the committee’s intervention on July 21, 2014, that two months of arrears of the allowances in contention be paid, while the balance and a review of new salary structure be reflected in the 2015 budget.
“We are also using this medium to appeal to NMA to work closely with Federal Ministry of Health so that the 2015 budget proposals of the ministry would include computations of outstanding agreed arrears, and new salary structure for medical doctors, effective from January 2015.”
The committee, however, expressed gratitude to the President of the Senate, David Mark, for his direct intervention, the Speaker of the House for providing the panel the needed support in its interventions, the Delta state governor and many others who in one way or the other were involved in the interventions.
