Doctors’ strike: NMA upbraids FG over ‘no work, no pay’ policy, says move counter-productive

Patients, relatives lament as LASUTH, LUTH offer skeletal services

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Ondo State chapter, yesterday, said the move by the Federal Government to apply ‘no work, no pay’ policy against striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in the country would be counter-productive for the country’s health sector.

In a letter to President Bola Tinubu, which was signed by its Chairman in the state, Dr. Omosehin Adeyemi-Osowe, and State Secretary, Dr. Adeayo Omotehinse, the association said the populace might be on the receiving end amid the brain drain situation in the sector.

According to the association, the policy could further demotivate those practising within the country and drive them towards seeking better opportunities abroad, thereby perpetuating the cycle of medical brain drain.

The doctors, while urging the President to, as a matter of urgency, find a lasting solution to the situation, said the government should provide decent and better working conditions to guarantee a brighter future.

Meanwhile, patients and their relatives at government hospitals in Lagos State have lamented as the strike embarked on by doctors under the aegis of NARD and NMA lingers.

A visit to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, yesterday, revealed that the doctors were not at their duty posts.

Most of the doctors available were very busy and tired.

The story was not different at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja as the resident doctors have joined their counterparts nationwide to go on strike.

Vice President, ARD, LUTH, Dr. Adenuga Omogbolahan, said the association would be protesting today.