The Federal Government has defended its decision to sack 16,000
resident doctors across the country, saying the move was to allow the
government appraise the training programme.
Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, while reacting to the
sack at a press conference in Lagos, said there had been problems with
the training which formed part of the reason why the doctors went on
strike in the first place.
"The suspension is with all Federal Government hospitals; State
Teaching Hospitals are not affected.
"The government suspended the training to allow for critical
investigation and come up with better ways to improve the training,"
he said.
On fears that that sacking the doctors at this crucial time, when the
country battles to curb the spread of the Ebola virus, the minister
alleged that the doctors had not been participating in the management
of Ebola and they would therefore not be missed.
"We just felt that we needed the space, to take a look and make it
better so that we can get the best from the programme. It is not a
permanent thing; it is just to allow us to appraise. But of course if
you close a programme in a university, you cannot keep the students
idle. They either go for another course meanwhile or they wait
indefinitely. After that, we will restart the programme.
"We keep forgetting that no doctor has been stopped from working. Some
of them may want to volunteer for this Ebola response. If any of them
volunteers I would recommend them to the President. That is my job as
the Minister of Health."
Meanwhile, the Secretary, Lagos Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr.
Babajide Saheed, warned that the sacking of resident doctors would
increase mortality and morbidity rates and worsen health indices in
the country.
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