Both the Senate and House of Representatives have jointly called on the resident doctors to call of their strike and return to negotiation table with the federal government.
The residents doctors under the aegis of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had resumed strike on Monday August 2, 2021.
Already, the strike action is affecting medical services at various government-owned hospitals.
Senate committee chairman on health Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe who spoke at the flag-off of a public health sensitisation campaign organised by the National Agency Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said the impact of doctors’ strike on the overall health of Nigeria was enormous.
According to him, “Medical doctors are critical to the nation’s health. I urge them to consider the generality of Nigerians and call off the ongoing strike.
“Already, the federal government has commenced discussions with the doctors and hopefully it will continue in order to reach a good conclusion.
Also, speaking, the chairman house committee on health services, Hon. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, appealed to doctors end ongoing strike.
Earlier, NAFDAC DG, Prof. Moji Adeyeye while explaining the essence of the sensitisation campaign explained that the exercise will start on August 9 and end on October 9, 2021.
She said, “The key objective of this sensitization programme is to intensify and expand the scope of our informal and formal behaviour change communication strategies in order to reach the vulnerable communities especially at the grassroots.
“Dissemination of Food and Drug safety information is an important aspect of our regulatory work. It is common knowledge that Nigeria has a preponderant share of the global problem of falsified medical products and unwholesome food.
“The advent of Covid-19 Pandemic has aggravated the problem with the challenge posed by substandard and falsified Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). The sensitisation campaigns will therefore contribute significantly to Federal Government’s concerted efforts to inform, sensitize, educate and alert the public about inherent dangers of intake and use of those spurious regulated products.
“The campaign themes are multifaceted with clear, concise, informative and educative messages aimed at arousing the awareness and consciousness of the general public about the various infractions that impact negatively on our healthcare delivery system.”
