Orji hails doctors for suspending strike
By ANAYO OKOLI
Umuahia—GOVERNOR Theodore Orji of Abia State has commended doctors of the state’s teaching hospital for suspending their five-month-old strike.
The aggrieved workers had suspended the trike to enable the government implement the CONMESS salary structure.
Orji, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Electronic Media, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, maintained that the doctors must be appreciated for suspending the strike to allow government dialogue with them on some of the issues raised with respect to their welfare.
According to the governor, the health sector remains a priority to him, the reason his government embarked on the building of 165 health centres across the state.
Orji assured that he would go the extra mile to ensure that the issues being raised by the doctors were addressed.
The governor also promised that his administration would also give ABSUTH a life line in terms of infrastructure, even as he promised the doctors a land to build its secretariat in Umuahia, adding that two buses will be given to them to ease their transportation problems.
Abia State chapter of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, had last week decried the deplorable state of health care delivery in the state. It also condemned in strong terms what it called “non-challant attitude of the state government towards the welfare of doctors in the state.”
The doctors also lamented the non-implementation of of the consolidated medical salary structure [CONMESS] in the state as being enjoyed by doctors in other states.
Consequently, the doctors have given a 7 day ultimatum to Medical Elders who offered to intervene and approach the Government on the need to implement the salary structure and also give health care in the state deserved attention.
Worried by the state of health care system in the state as well as non implementation of the new salary structure, the National leadership of NMA had directed that the new structure be implemented in the state failure which the doctors would embark on indefinite strike.
But the notable old doctors in the state under the name, Medical Elders “offered to impress on the government to implement 100% CONMESS in the state and take extra measures to ensure that the people in the state enjoy good health care”.
Rising from an emergency meeting Wednesday in Umuahia, Abia NMA decided to give the elders 7 days ultimatum to get result from the government or they will embark on a strike that will cripple completely the already troubled health system in the state.
However, the doctors decided to suspend for one week the 6 months old strike by resident doctors at the state university teaching hospital, ABSUTH. The resident doctors had embarked on the strike over five months of salary arrears. The one week suspension of the strike was “to enable NMA handle the issues along with CONMESS”.
The doctors resolved to reconvene in a state wide congress in 7 days “to review the situation and take appropriate action”.
During the meeting which was tension-soaked, many of the doctors called on the elders to also extra from the government, words of commitment to effectively and efficiently run the teaching hospital or close it down. They lamented that some medical students had spent 8 years for a 6 year programme, yet they have not graduated.
