Medical doctors in Nigeria who began a nationwide strike on Monday under the canopy of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) now have a division to contend with as members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria have opted out of it.
This may have been as a result of a judgment of the National Industrial Court which stopped the Federal Government from implementing the agreement it had earlier reached with the Joint Health Sector Union and their planned strike.
The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria has assured all patients and Nigerians of its commitment to uninterrupted and high quality health care services in all hospitals across the country.
The association urged its members nationwide to ignore the ongoing strike called by the Nigerian Medical Association, saying they should continue to provide services to patients.
The NMA President, Dr. Kayode Obeme, had said that last week’s interim injunction by the NIC has no link with the doctors’ strike as it was merely an issue between MDCAN and government.
“Every doctor is a member of NMA; other affiliates are allowed to operate also. We sought legal advice on the court injunction; our legal opinion is that the court order did not mention any reference to NMA and since it did not mention NMA, we don’t want to dwell on it,” he stated.
But the MDCAN said reports from hospitals nationwide and data collected from members after its meeting on Saturday in Ilorin, showed that members of the association -orthopedic surgeons, obstetricians, gynaecologists, infectious diseases specialists, physicians and several other specialists- had been attending to patients in various hospitals across the country. [myad]
