Ex-Commissioner Urges Dialogue In Resolving Healthcare Issues

The immediate past
Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr Jide Idris, has urged doctors and other health workers to embrace dialogue in resolving issues rather than embarking on strikes.
He told newsmen in Lagos on Thursday that the incessant strikes by healthcare providers had become worrisome.
“Health workers are not happy, they are poorly paid; that is a fact. “Again, you have to weigh what they are being paid to the resources available to the country.
“If we need to make progress, all these things have to be addressed, so, nobody will be happy if health workers are on strike, because at the end of the day, it is the people that will suffer.
“And that is why we must do everything within our capability to ensure that those strikes do not happen.
“The health workers must learn to resolve their issues without strikes, without putting people at a disadvantage.
“So, why allowing people to die? We must embrace dialogue; it takes courage, it takes determination, it takes commitment for health workers to sit down and iron out this issue and work together.”
Idris also urged them to shun unhealthy rivalry and embrace team work to ensure quality healthcare delivery.
“Another major problem is human resource, then, the health workers.
These are the major challenges in the health sector.
“We are different people; we must sit down and learn to work together as a team. If we continue to fight each other, it is the people that will suffer.
“So, for us to make progress, all health workers need to come together, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, that is the way to go. “If we don’t solve that problem, we can’t make any meaningful progress.”