The one week old industrial action embarked upon by National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has been suspended.
Aliyu Sokomba, NARD president, said in a statement on Sunday that the suspension of strike would take effect from Monday, June 22, 2020. Sokomba said the national executive council (NEC) of the association decided to suspend the strike to give the federal and state governments an opportunity to meet their demands.
The doctors last week embarked on an industrial action over the failure of the implementation of the medical residency training act in all federal and state hospitals and pay parity among doctors of equal cadre, among others.
According to Sokombo, “The NEC acknowledges the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to some hospitals. However these PPEs are consumables and non-reusable, therefore the need for sustained supply.”
The president of NARD acknowledged that some progress have been made including the reinstatement of sacked UNIJOS Teaching Hospital doctors, the inclusion of the medical residency funding and other measures to ensure the safety of health workers fighting the menace of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sokomba however wants more commitment by stakeholders to improve the condition of service in the tertiary medical facilities including procurement of group life insurance for health workers and the actualisation of a pledge by the state governors to NARD that medical residency funding will be included in state government budgets.
