Doctors’ strike: Kaigama raises alarm over looming health emergency

The Catholic Archbishop of the Abuja Archdiocese, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, has expressed worry that the ongoing industrial action by resident doctors in the country is a recipe for health emergencies in the country.

Kaigama, bared his mind on Sunday in his Homily at St. Dominic’s Parish, Kwali, Abuja.

According to him, the situation is compounding the suffering of Nigerians already being ravaged by poverty and other socio-economic challenges.

He said that it will be deplorable for the federal government not to act fast in finding solutions to the dispute until people have died or suffered irreversible damages.

The strike by doctors under the auspices of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), over the non-implementation of the agreement on welfare packages, is now eight days old with no resolution in sight.

“Many of our people are being ravaged by poverty. As if that is not enough, we now have the strike of the National Association of Resident Doctors compounding an already worrisome situation of hunger due to the escalating prices of food stuff,” Kaigama said.

He said that the frequent industrial actions of various professional groups reflected the poor attention given to workers with very sensitive responsibilities by the government.

He also said that it has become normal for the government to dilly dally in finding the best solutions until people have died or suffered irreversible damages.

He said, “It appears not to disturb our authorities that we are losing many health experts, not because they want to leave the country, but because they don’t experience any job satisfaction and their effort to serve patriotically is not reciprocated by a conducive working environment and appropriate remuneration and incentives.

“We hope the third wave of COVID-19 which is here and infections and fatality rates are on the increase, will convince the government to swing into positive action to see that the resident doctors resume their duties, with the needed medical measures taken to save lives. May God save us from further loss of lives.”