According to a Premium Times report,
Nigerian doctors have threatened to go on mass ‘sabbatical’ if the
federal government accedes to the demand of other health sector workers.
In what is clearly a continuation of the rivalry between doctors
and other health workers, the doctors, under the banner of the Nigerian
Medical Association, NMA, described the association of other health
workers, JOHESU, as an ‘illegal body.’
The NMA declared its opposition to many of the demands made by JOHESU, describing them as unacceptable.
The members of JOHESU are hospital workers apart from medical doctors and dentists.
The NMA Chairman, Mike Ogirima, while addressing a news conference
in Ilorin on Monday to mark the 2017 Physician Week, warned that doctors
“will be compelled to take a sabbatical, if JOHESU does not contain its radicalism.”
“Government should not allow itself to be intimidated by
illegal bodies like JOHESU in the health sector; we expect each
professional to stick to the ethics of their profession,” he said.
The chairman also alleged that doctors are now endangered species in the communities and traditional hospital environment.
“The value for money and hospitals titles have made the members
of JOHESU to set up fellowship colleges with the aim of bearing the
title of consultants,’’ he said.
JOHESU embarked on a nationwide strike on September 20 to protest
among other issues, salaries adjustments, promotion arrears, and
improved work environment for its members.
In compliance with the declaration of an indefinite strike by
JOHESU, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM
directed its members to stay away from all federal health institutions
across the country.
On the 9th day of the strike, JOHESU struck a deal with government.
The national chairman of the union, Biobelemoye Josiah, said the
strike had been suspended “in principle”. He said the union has reached
an agreement with the federal government and workers are to resume work.
The NMA opposed the agreement the federal government reached with
JOHESU, thus sending a warning signal that professional rivalry may lead
to serious crisis in the health sector.
The NMA referred to JOHESU’s demands and the agreement reached with
the union as an aberration in health service in the country and called
on the government to urgently redress it.
The NMA specifically opposed salary harmonization, one of the
important agreements government reached with JOHESU, and declared that
the doctors cannot receive the same salary as other health workers.
“NMA is totally opposed to salary harmonization as doctors are
not prepared to receive the same salary as other health workers,” the NMA warned in an open letter written to the Minister of Labour and Employment.
Top on the list of issues raised in the October 3 letter was that
JOHESU has no justification to demand for adjustment of salary scale as
was done for CONMESS.
“What JOHESU is asking for is equal pay with medical doctors. No single evidence was provided by JOHESU to justify their demand.
“The NMA is not opposed to any salary review, adjustment or
increase for JOHESU members or any other worker for that matter provided
that the same rate applied to CONHESS is applied to CONMESS to sustain
the principle of relativity agreement as signed between the Federal
Government and NMA on the 2nd of January, 2014”, the letter read in part.
Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, is the salary
structure for medical and dental officers in the federal public service
while Consolidated Health Salary Structure, CONHESS, is the salary
structure for pharmacists, medical laboratory, nurses and other health
workers in the health sector of the federal public service.
On Monday, Mr. Ogirima also appealed to the federal government to
operationalise the National Health Act of 2014, which made provisions
among others the pooling of not less than one per cent of consolidated
revenue as Basic Health Provision Fund (BHPF) to cater for the
vulnerable.