As health workers’ strike continues, Abuja residents lament
The strike action embarked upon by Nigerian health workers under the umbrella of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) is far from been over as residents of Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja had lamented their ordeals and disappointment over the lingering strike.
Health workers strike in Nigeria has been a recurrent decimal in Nigeria’s health sector and has been regarded as the last resort for health workers to press home their demands for good pay and conducive working environment.
Report showed that several lives have been lost as the result of the ongoing health workers strike. healthnews.africa recently reported on the impact that the strike has had in Nigeria’s premier teaching hospital, the UCH Ibadan.
In Abuja, the strike is mostly felt by citizens seeking healthcare services but cannot afford expensive private care.
Residents of Nigeria’s federal capital territory continue to lament over the lingering strike as patients who are in dire need of urgent medical attention are denied access to healthcare services.
healthnews.africa gathered that many of the patients who cannot afford the high fees of private hospitals have resulted in seeking for alternative ways to get treatments which further exposed the lives of many patients to dangers and potential death.
Several of the government-owned hospitals visited by healthnews.africa were deserted as health workers were absent from work in compliance with the directive from JOHESU. Only a few doctors were seen providing skeletal services which were largely to refer patients to private hospitals.
As the strike continues, residents enjoined all parties to quickly reach compromise to end the lingering strike. They also urged the government to do all it can in meeting the demands of the health workers.