DOCTORS ARE WICKED

My dear friends who are interested in building a stable and effective healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, I bring you greetings. It is unfortunate that I am compelled to write again about the rot in our healthcare delivery system and about the unhealthy rivalry among the healthcare workers in Government tertiary hospitals. i would rather write about the miracles being done in the hospitals here, I would rather write about the strides being taken in technological advancements in healthcare provision in this country, I would rather write about the budding growth of medical tourism in Nigeria and the numerous services available in Nigeria that one rarely needs to go abroad for medical purposes these days. Instead I have to talk about the selfish and parochial interests of Nigeria healthcare workers and the inability of the supervising ministry to adhere agreements and implement global best practices.

My last article was about the strike by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), in which I tried to chronicle the events that led to the strike, rationalize the importance of a structured balance to the issues affecting the doctors and implored the government to do the needful to avert full blown crisis in the healthcare sector. Today, what do we have? Another indefinite strike action by the Joint health sector union (JOHESU). When will all these incessant strike actions end?

When the doctors went on strike they were called all manner of names because they were fighting for better working conditions to deliver effective healthcare to Nigerians. Some said they were evil terrorists and some said they were worse than the Boko Haram. Were they selfish in asking for the National Health Bill to be passed, were they wrong in asking that a Health Trust Fund for upgrading the hospitals be instituted, was it wrong for them to demand that the harassment, intimidation and physical assault of pathologist by lab scientists being tolerated by Federal ministry of health (FMOH) be stopped, and was it selfish to ask that only medically qualified doctors be Chief Medical Directors in the Hospitals? Probably the timing of the strike then was wrong bearing in mind that we were grappling with the Ebola Virus disease at that time and sentiments were high which beclouded our sense of reasoning correctly and constructively. The Ebola Virus disease set the nation in a panic mode which made it seem like the doctors were insensitive. The truth is that you don’t need all the doctors in Nigeria to tackle EVD, rather public health specialists and infectious disease specialists. So were the Doctors monsters to have embarked on a strike when the nation was having a crises?  No they were plain wicked! Was it not the same doctors that volunteered at the various Ebola treatment centers set up by the government during that period, were they not the same people that came out en mass to treat victims of terrorism in Kaduna and Kano during the same period. Yet the doctors are wicked. How did they Nigerian doctor get to this sorry state of affairs?

When the residency training program was suspended and resident doctors sacked, another section of Nigerians were happy that these proud set of individuals have been sacked. Truth be told, this action affected the morale of the doctors and the confidence we had in the FMOH and the government was diminished. And when they NMA suspended its strike, an uneasy calm traversed the corridors of the hospitals. Consequently an exodus of many doctors ensued. And the exodus is still ongoing.

That the NMA suspended its strike was because they were prevailed upon by well meaning Nigerians especially the Senate President David Mark coupled with the Ebola virus disease incidents we had. You may wish to know that they demands of the NMA have not been addressed and nobody is talking about it anymore. So long as the doctors are at their duty posts, there is no problem. These temporary measures set up will not solve the problem. Trust me NMA will go on strike again in no distant time. Let it be known that an angry and an unsettled doctor is a danger to the society.

As I write this, the JOHESU are on strike and among their demands are promotion of their members from CONHESS 14-15 as Directors, payment of arrears of specialist allowance, and addressing the lopsidedness in the membership of boards of management of tertiary institutions amongst others too numerous to mention. It is every workers right to demand for better conditions, however this must be done in a proper way. Not seeking for stardom through the back door. Do not do things you will not do in your private establishments in government hospitals because it is government. The question that must be asked is why all these issues being agitated for are common with federal government owned hospitals. When a natural order of doing things is being upturned, definitely there will be a backlash.

Today JOHESU, tomorrow NMA when will this back and forth end? If every group demands are met there will be totally anarchy in the health sector. This reminds me of a movie I watched were GOD tried to answer the prayers of all his subjects. You could imagine the kind of chaos the world will be in. Hierarchical order in the healthcare  sector is there for a reason. Some selfish individuals are misguiding their unions and obtaining questionable judgements from Nigerian courts and brandishing such as the ideal. If the Fed government continues with this trend of acceding to every demand of all groups to avoid conflicts especially this election period, they will be digging a pit that will be difficult for it come out from. The Nigerian govt should seek out the best way out of this impasse by adhering to global best practices that  is practicable within the Nigerian context else there will be no organized healthcare sector again in this country. And we know how this will affect our already low health indices. Let’s be wise.

Dr Nnanna Agwu

18-11-2014