By Chioma Obinna

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, on Monday commended the Federal Government for setting up a committee on Collective Bargaining Agreements, CBA, for trade unions and associations in the health sector, describing it as a timely intervention to address longstanding grievances among non-physician health workers.

In a press statement signed by its President, Pharm. Ayuba Ibrahim Tanko, the PSN said the decision of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, to constitute the committee was crucial, coming at a time when the health sector had reached “boiling point” with repeated strike threats and warning actions by various groups.

Tanko noted that the crisis in Nigeria’s health system was largely fueled by perceived injustices, including what he described as the unconstitutional dominance of physicians in leadership positions across federal health institutions.

“It remains logical to imagine we were always going to get to this uncharitable level given the magnitude of injustice and contempt meted out to major stakeholders in our sector, which unfortunately has been programmed to be physician-dominated albeit on grounds laden with oppression and suppression of non-physician health workers,” he said.

The PSN highlighted three major concerns: the exclusive appointment of physicians as Chief Executive Officers of Federal Health Institutions, skewed political appointments favouring doctors, and entrenched bureaucratic structures that undermine other health professionals.

According to Tanko, these systemic flaws have fueled tensions and stifled career development for non-physician professionals.

“Some physicians insultingly arrogate manpower development by other cadres in the same sector as unnecessary, thereby frustrating advances in human resource development that could galvanise professions apart from medicine in Nigeria,” he added.

The Society urged the Federal Government to fully implement all existing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and CBAs with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA).

It specifically called for the long-overdue adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) to reflect the same treatment given to the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), which has undergone three adjustments since 2014.

“The CONHESS review of 25 percent /35 percent and the new National Minimum Wage table (2024) must also be factored into this exercise to restore normalcy and fairness in the system,” Tanko said.

The PSN also demanded parity in call duty allowances for Pharm.D holders and their physician counterparts, describing the current earning disparity as “ridiculous and slavish.

The statement further advocated for better recognition of academic pharmacists and fast-tracking of the pharmacist consultant cadre to strengthen pharmacy education and healthcare delivery in the country.

Tanko cautioned against any attempt to favour one professional group over others during the CBA process, stressing that equity and fairness were critical for industrial harmony in the health sector.

“This is not the time for distinct subservience to any favoured group because Nigerians are now well sensitised, inspired, and motivated to resist all forms of arrested development which have plagued the health sector for decades,” he said.

The PSN concluded by urging the Federal Government to sustain the spirit of unity expressed by representatives of JOHESU, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, at the inauguration of the CBA committee on August 15, 2025.