As resident doctors shelve Nationwide protests while continuing their strike, the founder Lauretta Health Initiative, Dr Loretta Ogboro-Okor has called on the Edo State Government and other state governments to be proactive in sorting out the demands of the resident doctors.

In a statement made available to our correspondent, she stressed the importance of the health care sector and asked that in the interest of the Nigerian patient, action be taken to tackle the various issues bedeviling the Nigerian health sector.

See statement below:

My dear people, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in Nigeria have gone on strike from today, 26th July 2024.
What this means is that sadly, when you go to the government owned hospitals in Edo State and other states in Nigeria now, there will be no trainee doctors to attend to patients. To many who may not know, the fact is that about 70 per cent of doctors in government owned hospitals where the masses in Nigeria can afford to attend are trainees or resident doctors.
Their list of demands to enable them care hoslistically for their patients are listed below.👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
Demands are:

1. Immediate payment of the 2023 MRTF
2. Immediate release of the circular on one-for-one replacement
3. Payment of skipping arrears
4. Upward review of CONMESS (a revised salary scale) in line with full salary restoration to the 2014 value of CONMESS
5. Payment of the arrears of consequential adjustment of minimum to the omitted doctors
6. Reversal of the downgrading of the membership certificate by MDCN
7. Payment of MRTF, new hazard allowance, skipping and implementation of corrected CONMESS in State Tertiary Health Institutions
8. Payment of omitted hazard allowance arrears

NARD leadership has engaged with FMOH, Budget Office, Head of Federal Civil Service, and Ministry of Labour about these issues with no significant movement forward.
We at LHI have reviewed this list of demands by NARD and would suggest that at least one of the demands should reflect directly our defects in patient centred care and its optimisation. This is because we are all potential Nigerian Patients and these demands by NARD should be all inclusive.
However, LHI strongly advocates that the Federal Government of Nigeria with all the MDA’s should act like a serious government that understands the importance of the healthcare eco-system in the development of the country and be proactive in sorting out the Nigerian Association of Residents Doctors and by extension all issues in other healthcare professional associations as soon as possible because the “Nigerian Patients Are Worth It”.