‘Strike Action: Govt Policy on No-Work No-Pay Has Saved Health of Nigerians’

The Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Chris Bode, has stated that the present Federal Ministry of Health’s policy on no-work no-pay has greatly saved the health of most Nigerians, who otherwise would not have been accessing treatment due to incessant strike actions in the health sector.

He said it was heartwarming to know that most medical and health workers were beginning to understand that strike actions in the sector do not solve any issue, but rather affects patients negatively, with some losing their lives because of inability to be attended to.

Bode who spoke during the Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) Annual Symposium in Lagos, said “One of our major challenges here at LUTH before now was the incessant strike actions by some groups. But that has changed with the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of Prof. Isaac Adewole in the Federal Ministry of Health.

“Now the 10 or 15 members who spearhead this are no longer taken seriously by other members of their associations. In the last few months they have called for strike action four times, but my doctors disregarded them and continued their work. The strike actions were unsuccessful.

“The FMOH has made it clear other mediums should be considered to resolve issues because we deal with human lives. Nigerians must be able to access healthcare and its personnel anytime they want,” he said.

Meanwhile he stated that many good things were happening in the health sector that the media must showcase in order to instill confidence in Nigerians that they don’t need to access healthcare abroad when institutions like LUTH can provide treatments. “Let’s encourage our health institutions doing good work by writing about their efforts,” he added.

The Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu , who spoke on ‘Disease Outbreaks: The NCDC Experience’, said the centre was doing a lot in terms of prevention, detection and response.

Ihekweazu, who was represented by the Centre’s Technical Assistant on Communication, Dr. Lawal Bakare said the centre was operating an open door policy such that information on disease outbreaks were put on its website for everyone to access, adding that it was also very active on social media in order to be able to engage Nigerians and get information in the shortest time possible.

“Adding, he said, “NCDC is also strengthening the capacity of states through the National Surveillance Meeting, which has helped in engaging various states on their level of capacity in disease control.”