By  Anayo Okoli
Aba—The Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, of Abia State University Teaching Hospital, ABSUTH, Aba,  has vowed to continue the strike its members embarked upon over five months ago, saying doctors would only resume work when the state government implements the new welfare package the association agreed with it.

Among the demands of the Association are the implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, and payment of 5 months arrears the government is  owing its members; regular payment of salaries; provision of infrastructure and equipment in the hospital, such as  dialysis, and other basic working facilities as ultra-sound scan machines, syringes and stationery in the only teaching hospital in the state.

The association is also asking Abia State government to urgently address the impending threat on the continued existence of ABSUTH by halting through improved welfare and provision of medical facilities, the continued exodus of important staff of the institution.

The doctors in a press statement signed by Dr. Caroline Iwuoha, President; Dr. Nnenna  Nwachukwu and Dr. Iheke Ogbonna, Public Relations Officer of their association, respectively, called on  Abia State government to meet the demands which, they said, were the basis for their current strike, reactivated on June 22, 2010.

The resident doctors also expressed fear that with the lingering strike, medical students who are currently out of classes, would not graduate when their colleagues from other schools would.

According to Iwuoha, the doctors are still paid the Harmonized Tertiary Institution Salary Scale, HARTISS, while their colleagues in other teaching hospitals have since been enjoying CONTISS (Consolidated Tertiary Institution Salary Scale), and even graduated to the new scale of CONMESS (Consolidated Medical Salary Scale).

The Association also decried the state of facilities in the hospital which, according to them, is not encouraging and does not motivate the doctors, noting that the hospital’s environment was not something to write home about.

“Before we went on strike, snake bit a doctor because the place was very bushy; the situation has gone from bad to worst. Private hospitals in Aba  are supposed to be referring cases to ABSUTH, but now the reverse is the case.

We refer patients to private hospitals which, in the first place, do not have the facilities and that would tell you how bad things have gone.

“There is no point of calling off the strike as things are at present because opening our gates to patients now simply means asking them to come in here and die because there are no facilities to take care of them, more so when the staff morale is so low”, Dr. Iwuoha lamented.