VC Urges Resident Doctors To Shelve Strike

The Vice Chancellor,
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, has appealed to striking resident doctors in Kaduna state to call-off their strike in order to save the lives of the citizens and residents of the state.
Garba made the call at the opening of  the week long 9th biennial delegates’ conference of the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria holding in Kaduna.
The Vice Chancellor urged the resident doctors to consider the loss of human lives due to  lack of medical attention and resume duty.
Garba said the strike has disrupted health services and exposed most Nigerians to untold hardship.
“ They should do this in the interest of the entire Nigerians who are innocently dying because of the ongoing strike.
“The experience of few medical experts handling mass causalities at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) in the last bomb blast that left many injured in Zaria and the present flood disaster been experienced in parts of the country has placed us on red alert for any emergencies.
“We therefore appeal to our resident doctors to call-off the strike so as to give adequate attention to the casualties and victims of such incidents.“
Meanwhile, Chairman of the occasion and Vice Chancellor, Federal University Lokoja, in Kogi, Prof. Abdulmumuni Rafindadi, said the Association had converged to deliberate on challenges of mass causalities management in Nigeria.
Rafindadi said the association would also conduct an assessment of the MDGs and effort to access funds for research studies in various medical fields in the country.
He urged the delegates of the conference to re-assess the conduct of members in the discharge of their duties.
The Vice Chancellor appealed to them to evolve new mechanisms that would profer lasting solution to the challenges of medicare in the country.
On his part, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru el-Rufai  told the delegates that the state government had stepped up effort to improve healthcare delivery, particularly to the less privileged.
Represented by the State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Andrew Nok, the governor said the State would soon establish a forensic center and a sickle cell center to tackle health challenges facing the state.
El-Rufa’i said the government would also establish five referral hospitals across the state to tackle other health issues.