By Job Osazuwa
Health workers, under the umbrella of Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), have called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the health care system, because the sector needs urgent revamping.
At a protest in Lagos recently, the aggrieved workers lamented that all health institutions in Nigeria were nothing to write home about. They pointed out that, if Nigerians must have access to quality health care, the deplorable situation in the health system must, as a matter of urgency, be given a holistic review through more funding and human capacity development,.
According to Obinna Ogbonna, the national president of the union, the decay in both administration and service in the sector was as a result of years of neglect by successive administrations.
The protesters, comprising pharmacists, physiotherapists, dental technologists, medical laboratory scientists, health information managers and other related professionals, marched from Lagos State University Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, to the Governor’s Office, Alausa, Ikeja, as they sang solidarity songs, registering their grievances.
Ogbonna alleged that there was corruption in Nigeria’s health care system, leading to the loss of innocent lives. He stated that Nigerians’ confidence in the country’s health system was completely eroded; there was lack of infrastructure, inadequate personnel and equipment in the country’s hospitals, which have become death centres.
Hear him: “Patients virtually buy all that is needed for their treatment from shops outside the hospital, ranging from hand gloves, sutures to drugs. Most of the pharmacies in the government hospitals have been nicknamed ‘out of stock centres.’”
Inscriptions on some of the placards they displayed included “Implement the National Health Act Now”, “Respect the Rule of Law”, Federal Ministry of Health Has Legalised Corruption”, “Prof. lsaac Adewole, Are You a Minister of Health or Hell?” “Please Ministry of Health, Do the Right Thing”, “No to Stagnation of Health Workers”, “We’re Tired of Unfruitful Meetings”, and “Professional Autonomy is the Answer.”
The union’s president stated that NUAHP members didn’t believe in incessant strikes, considering the effects on the patients. But he averred that they would not hesitate to embark on one, if government refused to meet their demands as soon as possible.
Ogbonna said, despite several agreements between the workers and the Federal Government to implement the skipping of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHES) 10 and payment of arrears in compliance with a court judgement, government has jettisoned all the efforts and recommendations.
He told journalists that members of the union were demoralised by government’s body language, vowing that the health workers would continue in their seemingly unending struggles for an improved and conducive environment for health workers, which he said would rub off on the patients.
“We are begging Nigerians to help us prevail on government to do the right thing. This is anarchy because the Ministry of Health has refused to obey the court judgement of July 27, 2013, which addressed promotion and other benefits of our members,” Ogbonna said.
Also, the South-West zonal coordinator of the union, Mr. Eke Uzondu, urged the federal government to see to the welfare of workers within the Federal Ministry of Health, lamenting that the issue had long been over-flogged.
Uzondu said: “The workers have suffered enough, especially those that are not medical practitioners. All health workers are suffering one thing or the other: there is no equipment, facilities are not available and there is lack of training and retraining of personnel.”
The coordinator urged the government to make policies that would prevent strife and dichotomy and focus on policies that would build team spirit in the health sector.
“For us to work as a team, there must be a level playing ground; if everybody is recognised, allowed to grow at their own pace and respected, it will be one of the greatest motivations,” he said.
Other demands of the workers, according to him, are the need to appoint them as consultants, professional autonomy in the sector and payment of pension arrears.