“I live only by faith,” said Agbanero, Joe’s about to start the second round Chemotherapy at the Government National Hospital in the capital Abuja. He says that he has not received any treatment since August 2.
“Ever since the strike began, no doctor has come to examine me. I only live by faith,” Agabanero told CNN.
“We are not accepting patients with serious medical needs,” a National Hospital staff member told CNN. “There is no doctor on the ground, so patients in poor condition are referred to private hospitals,” said the employee, who did not wish to be named.
Although treatment in private hospitals The costs are much higher than those run by the government and those who cannot afford private health care will suffer the most.
Resident doctors in the country’s government hospitals are on strike over “poor welfare” amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections and a move by authorities to halt industrial action.
as doctors strike Exceeding Salary and Conditions Entering its third week, patients requiring immediate medical care such as Agbanero have been left in the lurch in public hospitals.
At the National Hospital, CNN also interviewed Emmanuel Ejim, who had surgery to repair a ruptured stomach shortly before the strike began, a treatment he hasn’t had since doctors boycotted work.
“The doctors are no longer treating me. The nurses examine me whenever they want because there is no one to look after me,” Ejim told CNN.
Both men said they could not afford to receive healthcare in a private medical facility.
CNN has contacted a spokesperson for the national hospital for a comment.
Ignoring healthcare by the ruling class
Many wealthy Nigerians depend on medical services abroad due to the country’s crumbling health infrastructure.
The 78-year-old Nigerian leader has made several visits to the UK for treatment for an unknown disease.
His colleagues say his medical records are best handled by UK experts who have looked after his health for four decades.
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), an umbrella body for doctors in Nigeria’s teaching hospitals, said the country’s health sector is overlooked as there is little attention given to it by the ruling class.
“We are not pointing our fingers in the right direction. Anyone with malaria in the upper strata can travel abroad to get a checkup because they can afford it. But most Nigerians cannot afford treatment abroad Uilawa Okhuaihesui, the president of NARD, told CNN.
“Our health sector is ignored because they haven’t paid any attention to it,” Okhuahesuyi said. He said Nigeria’s budget for health has been poor.
‘Nigerians are dying needlessly’
He said the doctors are also protesting against the unpaid salary of some NARD members for about three to six months and the lack of insurance benefits to the relatives. of doctors who died of covid.
The doctors’ union wants a substantial increase in healthcare workers’ hazard allowances — an additional payment to frontline medical workers.
“As of today, the risk allowance for all healthcare workers is 5000 naira ($12), and this was last reviewed in 1991,” Okhuahesui said.
Okhuahesui has dismissed the proposed increase as “not good enough”.
“Since the start of the year, we have lost 19 members (of NARD) to COVID-19. All healthcare workers are supposed to be covered by insurance, but as it stands, we have no more than the next. There is no death in the service insurance given to the kin of our members,” the NARD chairman said.
The Ministry of Labor and Empowerment did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. CNN also contacted the Nigerian Ministry of Health but did not receive a response.
He said in a recent interview that the Labor Minister has responded to the strikes by enacting labor laws against striking doctors and by invoking the “No Work, No Pay” rule.
Ngige blamed the doctors for “failing to give mandatory notice” to the government before initiating industrial action.
Citing labor laws, the minister said: “If you are on essential service, you must give mandatory notice before you can down the tool,” adding that reconciliation efforts had failed.
However, the doctors’ union argued that the strike became a last resort after the ultimatum given to the government was ignored.
While the country’s labor minister criticized it for “preferring” to spend government resources on litigation against the doctors’ union instead of meeting their demands for better welfare.
brain drain accelerates
Many Nigerian doctors have long since left the country’s health sector as brain drain intensifies.
Okhuahesuyi said poor working conditions have contributed to the mass exit of Nigerian healthcare workers looking for better-paying jobs abroad.
“It’s going to get worse,” said Kingsley Douglas, a Nigerian physician and public health adviser. Nigerian doctors exodus.
“Many doctors do three to four jobs in Nigeria to be able to make a basic living,” he said.
The doctor remarked that Nigeria’s The response to the pandemic will be greatly affected by NARD’s indefinite strike.
“To a large extent, the strike will affect the state of COVID management, but doctors need to survive to save lives,” Douglas said, suggesting that the timing of the strike could be strategic.
“One could argue that the timing is wrong, but doctors are also strategists. The time to strike comes at a point that will have the greatest impact.”
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