Kaduna doctors threaten to shutdown hospitals by July 1

It would be recalled that the national body of NMA had earlier threatened to shut down the health care system should the Federal Government fail to meet its 23-point demands by July 1st.Addressing a press briefing in Kaduna, the chairman of Kaduna State chapter of NMA, Dr. Aliyu Usman Bappa said that once the strike […]

It would be recalled that the national body of NMA had earlier threatened to shut down the health care system should the Federal Government fail to meet its 23-point demands by July 1st.
Addressing a press briefing in Kaduna, the chairman of Kaduna State chapter of NMA, Dr. Aliyu Usman Bappa said that once the strike commences, all hospitals in the state would be shutdown until the Federal government meet their demands.
“We have decided to embark on an indefinite strike action after all other means employed to get the FG meet our demands failed. It seems the only language that the Government understands is strike. It is not our wish because unfortunately, the masses will be at the receiving end,” he said.
Lamenting the deteriorating state of the health sector in the country, he described the health system as collapsing. “The health system is collapsing because the system is not working. Our health system is characterised by dilapidated facilities, lack of electricity and equipment among others,”
“We are not demanding for any new thing but what is obtainable world over. So if government can resolve other sector’s problem who had earlier made similar demand, we don’t see the reason why the same government will not want to solve the problems of the health sector knowing well that the sector occupies a very crucial position in the country,”
“Therefore, our perennial call on the FG is to carry out an important restructuring and alignment of the health sector in line with global trends but it is unfortunate that instead of partnering with NMA and other relevant stakeholders in pursuing this patriotic objective, government has resorted to mere subterfuge and divide-and-rule tactics,” Bappa said.
Speaking further, he said, “Our demand is simple, government should restore order to the health sector by adopting and enforcing international best practice, any measure short of this will be vehemently resisted by NMA,” he stressed.