It has become necessary to reach out to the Federal Government, consumers of health and all stakeholders with regards to the on-going nationwide strike of health workers.

 

We wish to put on record that after attending a series of meetings with the Federal Government team under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, with the following Ministries/Agencies in attendance; Federal Ministry of Health, Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Finance, DSS and others on:

a.          Wednesday, 25th April, 2018

ii.           Monday,  30th April, 2018

iii.         Thursday, 3rd May, 2018

iv.         Wednesday 9th May, 2018

v.           Tuesday 15th May, 2018

vi.         Wednesday 16th May, 2018

 

It has become imperative to summarise our observation as follows:

1.           The Federal Ministry of  Health as presently led by Prof. Isaac Adewole FAS has constituted itself as a major hindrance to fruitful deliberation as he has never disguised its intention to symbolise the propaganda machine of the NMA through his posturing at all our meetings, which necessitated JOHESU to take a position that the negotiation were structured to fail ab-initio.

 

Prof. Isaac Adewole is on record to have insisted that the wage structure in the health sector must reckon with what was obtainable in the 1991 late Prof. Olukoye Ransome – Kuti’s dual salary system (MSS and HSS) which marked the beginning of persistent acrimony until it was corrected through the Harmonised Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure (HATISS) and HAPSS in 2003.

 

2.           The duo of the Ministers of Labour and Health who are both members of the NMA have taken a position that parity must entail a basic salary differential in the emolument of health professionals and their doctor colleagues.

 

On May 15, 2018, JOHESU came up with a comprehensive presentation to graphically showcase the realities of the various salary scales in the Health Sector from 1977 till date (please see appendix).  Even when the reality on ground shows that a fresh doctor presently enters the public service on CONMESS 3 which is the equivalent of GL 13 with a take home monthly package of N313,000,00 per month, the closest in line who are health professionals enter public service on CONHESS 9 which is the equivalent of GL 10 with a package of N161,670.00 with a proposal to have an adjustment that takes him to a total emolument of N190,000.00, the two Ministers who are members of NMA have taken positions that these health professionals seek parity with doctors.  In mathematical terms this is a significant 61% differential.

 

At same CONMESS 3 which is an equivalent of CONHESS 11, in our adjusted CONHESS, a Medical Doctor on CONMESS 3 will earn N312,944.83 while other health professionals will earn N223,345.58.  this is a difference of N89,599.22 which in mathematical terms translate into 40% differential.

 

At peak levels on CONMESS 7, a consultant doctor takes home at least One Million naira, while other health professionals at the same peak level of CONHESS 15 are presently on N477,165 and seek for proposed adjustment which will take them to N697,000.  This still gives a 43% differential.

 

The above reflection is what obtains when health professionals on the peak of JOHESU ladder is compared to doctors.  For administrators and graduate nurses who start on CONHESS 7 (GL , their present earnings are a meagre monthly entitlements of N89,000 and N118,000.

 

For effect it will take any other average health professional or administrator a minimum of 15 year

Lalasticlala
Lalasticlala


LALASTICLALA FRONT PAGE PLSSSSS!

Lalasticlala
Lalasticlala


LALASTICLALA FRONT PAGE PLSSSSS!


please supermods do the needful....
people are died already and more will follow due to this strike....
create this awareness on FRONT-PAGE....
and let's end this strike....

#my2cents

veeklin:
Lalasticlala
Lalasticlala


LALASTICLALA FRONT PAGE PLSSSSS!


please mods do the needful....
create this awareness on front-page....
and let's end this strike....

#my2cents

And how will the awareness end the strike
Beside this was just copied and pasted. No source yet

kai! But these doctors are wicked o, their salary is almost twice the other professionals and they are still crying foul. just because of one year difference in school. This injustice must stop. JOHESU, we dey ur back, continue.

Lalasticlala please take this to front page

Now the truth is out and the public has to be aware of the incompetency of this Minister of Health whose posture is stalling the negotiations.

He said JOHESU is asking for pay parity which is a BIG LIE.

Johesu leadership are pathological liars.

sartorius:
Johesu leadership are pathological liars.

Abeg tell us truth.

sartorius:
Johesu leadership are pathological liars.

Are you sure you read? If you didn't, go and get the Current CONMESS from National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission. Let's see who's lying

utytill:
Abeg tell us truth.

You dey mind am?

SmallmebigGod:

And how will the awareness end the strike
Beside this was just copied and pasted. No source yet

what do u care about?.....you obviously don't care about the patients who can't access health care, cause if u did u won't be asking why this should be moved to front page!

veeklin:



what do u care about?.....you obviously don't care about the patients who can't access health care, cause if u did u won't be asking why this should be moved to front page!

Just explain how the post will lead to bringing back health care access to the public. Educate me pls

SmallmebigGod:

And how will the awareness end the strike
Beside this was just copied and pasted. No source yet

JOHESU is just trying to tell the masses that the strike is as a result of this Government's insensitivity and insincerity. JOHESU exhausted the negotiation procedures before going on strike.

The doctors have had their salaries increased 3 times since 2014 but those of others have not been increased.
The last time the JOHESU went on strike was in September last year. The FG agreed and released a circular to implement the agreement within 5 weeks but nothing was done. They gave the FG six months within which they wrote letters to the Presidency and Ministry of Health but there was no response.

At the moment, the FG is offering less than one-third of the amount it will cost to adjust CONHESS (22 billion) but JOHESU has refused to budge.

So who is fooling who?

veeklin:


 

It has become necessary to reach out to the Federal Government, consumers of health and all stakeholders with regards to the on-going nationwide strike of health workers.

 

We wish to put on record that after attending a series of meetings with the Federal Government team under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, with the following Ministries/Agencies in attendance; Federal Ministry of Health, Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Finance, DSS and others on:

a.          Wednesday, 25th April, 2018

ii.           Monday,  30th April, 2018

iii.         Thursday, 3rd May, 2018

iv.         Wednesday 9th May, 2018

v.           Tuesday 15th May, 2018

vi.         Wednesday 16th May, 2018

 

It has become imperative to summarise our observation as follows:

1.           The Federal Ministry of  Health as presently led by Prof. Isaac Adewole FAS has constituted itself as a major hindrance to fruitful deliberation as he has never disguised its intention to symbolise the propaganda machine of the NMA through his posturing at all our meetings, which necessitated JOHESU to take a position that the negotiation were structured to fail ab-initio.

 

Prof. Isaac Adewole is on record to have insisted that the wage structure in the health sector must reckon with what was obtainable in the 1991 late Prof. Olukoye Ransome – Kuti’s dual salary system (MSS and HSS) which marked the beginning of persistent acrimony until it was corrected through the Harmonised Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure (HATISS) and HAPSS in 2003.

 

2.           The duo of the Ministers of Labour and Health who are both members of the NMA have taken a position that parity must entail a basic salary differential in the emolument of health professionals and their doctor colleagues.

 

On May 15, 2018, JOHESU came up with a comprehensive presentation to graphically showcase the realities of the various salary scales in the Health Sector from 1977 till date (please see appendix).  Even when the reality on ground shows that a fresh doctor presently enters the public service on CONMESS 3 which is the equivalent of GL 13 with a take home monthly package of N313,000,00 per month, the closest in line who are health professionals enter public service on CONHESS 9 which is the equivalent of GL 10 with a package of N161,670.00 with a proposal to have an adjustment that takes him to a total emolument of N190,000.00, the two Ministers who are members of NMA have taken positions that these health professionals seek parity with doctors.  In mathematical terms this is a significant 61% differential.

 

At same CONMESS 3 which is an equivalent of CONHESS 11, in our adjusted CONHESS, a Medical Doctor on CONMESS 3 will earn N312,944.83 while other health professionals will earn N223,345.58.  this is a difference of N89,599.22 which in mathematical terms translate into 40% differential.

 

At peak levels on CONMESS 7, a consultant doctor takes home at least One Million naira, while other health professionals at the same peak level of CONHESS 15 are presently on N477,165 and seek for proposed adjustment which will take them to N697,000.  This still gives a 43% differential.

 

The above reflection is what obtains when health professionals on the peak of JOHESU ladder is compared to doctors.  For administrators and graduate nurses who start on CONHESS 7 (GL , their present earnings are a meagre monthly entitlements of N89,000 and N118,000.

 

For effect it will take any other average health professional or administrator a minimum of 15 year

Please add source to this

Johesu lies

On why the NMA has threatened to down tools, the newly elected president of the association, Francis Faduyile explained how the implementation of JOHESU demands will alter the existing relativity in the salary scale in the health sector.

“We have been disadvantaged for more than 12 years in the health sector until 2014 when the government realised this and readjusted our salary scale which is CONMESS.

“Now JOHESU is asking for the same readjustment on their salary scheme. If this is done, it means the relativity is altered and we will go back to that position where we are disadvantaged. They are asking that everything for CONMESS point for point, level for level must be the same thing with CONHESS.

“If this is done, it will be a bad morale to us. I am working as a doctor and (I) am collecting N5, another person in service who did not go through the kind of training I went through and is not working as much as I do will still be collecting the same salary, why am I going through all these stress then?

“Before, the salary ratio of doctors and other health workers used to be 3.3 to 1.0 but today we have cut it down to 1.5 to 1.0 almost by 50 per cent so that peace will reign but they just want it to be at par. But we are saying we have given so much to that level of 1.5 and we can’t go beyond that.”

Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, is the salary structure for medical and dental officers in the federal public service while Consolidated Health Salary Structure, CONHESS, is the salary structure for pharmacists, medical laboratory, nurses and other health workers in the health sector of the federal public service.

obi4eze:


JOHESU is just trying to tell the masses that the strike is as a result of this Government's insensitivity and insincerity. JOHESU exhausted the negotiation procedures before going on strike.

The doctors have had their salaries increased 3 times since 2014 but those of others have not been increased.
The last time the JOHESU went on strike was in September last year. The FG agreed and released a circular to implement the agreement within 5 weeks but nothing was done. They gave the FG six months within which they wrote letters to the Presidency and Ministry of Health but there was no response.

At the moment, the FG is offering less than one-third of the amount it will cost to adjust CONHESS (22 billion) but JOHESU has refused to budge.

So who is fooling who?

You just gave a comprehensible explanation which by the way its different from The OP and his post . That been said I wish Johessu all the best in their dialogue and negotiations. And to address one of the issue you raised, I am a doctor, and my salary as only been adjusted or increased once since 2014 you cited. And some Johessu members got some adjustment within that same period (I don't have full details on this ).
I am going to respond on the relativity and parity soon

SmallmebigGod:

Just explain how the post will lead to bringing back health care access to the public. Educate me pls

sadly u need to educate yourself.... I'll only educate the public.... this labour action has always been about improved pay package and not pay parity with Doctors, employment of more hands and adjustment of retirement age for JOHESU members..... all which are fair and the doctors are currently enjoying but sadly it was derailed by some elements that claims this strike is about supremacy and pay parity, which it was never about....
this health care sector is in chaos today because some elements feel it's their birth right to feed large while others feed on left overs.... even if we can't eat 2 plates of food, we deserve at least a plate cause we are all professionals in the health field, instead of left overs on the floor!!!

SmallmebigGod:

You just gave a comprehensible explanation which by the way its different from The OP and his post . That been said I wish Johessu all the best in their dialogue and negotiations. And to address one of the issue you raised, I am a doctor, and my salary as only been adjusted or increased once since 2014 you cited. And some Johessu members got some adjustment within that same period (I don't have full details on this ).
I am going to respond on the relativity and parity soon

Adjustment that never was implemented up to date..... if it was this strike won't hold, so get ur facts right!

veeklin:


sadly u need to educate yourself.... I'll only educate the public.... this labour action has always been about improved pay package and not pay parity with Doctors, employment of more hands and adjustment of retirement age for JOHESU members..... all which are fair and the doctors are currently enjoying but sadly it was derailed by some elements that claims this strike is about supremacy and pay parity, which it was never about....
this health care sector is in chaos today because some elements feel it's their birth right to feed large while others feed on left overs.... even if we can't eat 2 plates of food, we deserve at least a plate cause we are all professionals in the health field, instead of left overs on the floor!!!

The point is that, your post wasn't educative enough, until I read what obi4eze write about your post, so that's for you to deal with

veeklin:


Adjustment that never was implemented up to date..... if it was this strike won't hold, so get ur facts right!

some Friends here (lab scientists) got alert for it

SmallmebigGod:

some Friends here (lab scientists) got alert for it

what are u even saying?.... can some be paid an improved salary package and others be left out?.... if that were the case that would have been mentioned as one of the bullet points for this strike.... but check thoroughly it never has or will be mentioned..... so get ur facts right!

SmallmebigGod:

You just gave a comprehensible explanation which by the way its different from The OP and his post . That been said I wish Johessu all the best in their dialogue and negotiations. And to address one of the issue you raised, I am a doctor, and my salary as only been adjusted or increased once since 2014 you cited. And some Johessu members got some adjustment within that same period (I don't have full details on this ).
I am going to respond on the relativity and parity soon

Are you a resident doctor? In a Federal or State Health Institution?

sartorius:
Johesu lies

Are sure this is correct, nobody enter civil service in Nigeria with grade 11, it's skipped for all civil servants. correct me if am wrong

sartorius:
On why the NMA has threatened to down tools, the newly elected president of the association, Francis Faduyile explained how the implementation of JOHESU demands will alter the existing relativity in the salary scale in the health sector.

“We have been disadvantaged for more than 12 years in the health sector until 2014 when the government realised this and readjusted our salary scale which is CONMESS.

“Now JOHESU is asking for the same readjustment on their salary scheme. If this is done, it means the relativity is altered and we will go back to that position where we are disadvantaged. They are asking that everything for CONMESS point for point, level for level must be the same thing with CONHESS.

“If this is done, it will be a bad morale to us. I am working as a doctor and (I) am collecting N5, another person in service who did not go through the kind of training I went through and is not working as much as I do will still be collecting the same salary, why am I going through all these stress then?

“Before, the salary ratio of doctors and other health workers used to be 3.3 to 1.0 but today we have cut it down to 1.5 to 1.0 almost by 50 per cent so that peace will reign but they just want it to be at par. But we are saying we have given so much to that level of 1.5 and we can’t go beyond that.”

Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, is the salary structure for medical and dental officers in the federal public service while Consolidated Health Salary Structure, CONHESS, is the salary structure for pharmacists, medical laboratory, nurses and other health workers in the health sector of the federal public service.

Doctors aren't disadvantaged as u want us to believe.... doctors are simply being selfish.... if ur parents gave u two plates of rice but u still need more due to ur appetite and ur parents decides to give ur brother a plate of rice instead of half plate he was collecting before, how does that become a disadvantage for u?.... it's suppose not to affect u, after all u still have the lion share.... but it can only become a disadvantage for you if u believe the pot from which the rice is coming from will not be enough to give ur brother a plate of rice and still give u your two plates of rice and even extras that u hope to collect, as such u cry foul..... which is exactly the situation that is currently on ground in the health sector between NMA and JOHESU

and we are not asking for pay parity but improved pay for CONHESS. Ideally in line with international best practice we are suppose to be on the same salary scheme but our entry levels would be different....

All health care professionals go through serious training at undergraduate levels and post graduate levels too.... no need for comparison.....cause as important as a striker is to a team..... u still need 11 players to make a team.... the striker won't do the job of a goalie.... even those on the bench are equally important.... we are all a health team and deserve our individual accolades

Sack Chris Ngige and Isaac Adewole now!!!

FG, time to act is now!!!!!!

We are for enhanced wages for all workers

sartorius:
We are for enhanced wages for all workers

so please sir, lend ur voice to this cause, even if it doesn't seem to be of benefit to u, u can be rest assured that it isn't harmful either to u.....
before we became Doctors or any other health professionals, we were first humans.... and if we appeal to our humanity we will ask for equity and fairness and not equality for all health workers and most importantly the patients who are in need of our expertise.

Let the doctors keep deceiving themselves thinking they are deceiving the public. No matter how you try to cover the truth,it must come out. I dont really blame them,I blame the system that has made it that the ministry of health must be headed by doctors. If what is practiced abroad is applicable here, we shouldn't be having this issue. It all boils down to greed.

Nigeria doctors have a narcissistic personality disorder.
If not that I have one as a father and two as siblings.
Local Champions,
Doctors in other countries are inventing stuffs,
The ones we have here are only good in fighting johesu.
Rubbish.
We will fight to the end.
Proudly johesu

JOHESU AND NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT VS NMA HEALTH BATTLE: THIS IS THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER
By Fejiro Oliver
The equal right of all citizens to health, education, work, food, security, culture, science, and wellbeing – that is, the same rights we proclaimed when we began our struggle, in addition to those which emerge from our dreams of justice and equality for all inhabitants of our world – is what I wish for all. Fidel Castro
This is a long write-up for intellectuals who can research and not those who dwell in shallow arguments.
For two years, I purposely stayed away from writing as an individual on issues that bothered about the health sector in Nigeria, to enable me research on the true international best practices and come out with an informed and none bias position. Apart from education and defense, the most important aspect of a country is its health sector. Sadly enough, the sector in Nigeria has been bedeviled by animosity and fierce battle between the two prominent groups, namely; Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
JOHESU consists of all workers in the hospitals apart from Physicians and Dentists who make up NMA. I have decided to skip the word ‘doctor’ for a reason, which will be explained later. Nigeria is currently shut down with death toll rising every twenty four hours since JOHESU embarked on their strike last week. Despite the Federal Government refusal to pay them April salaries, they are bent on not going to work, until their demands are met. The argument from both sides is reasonable, depending on the prism through which one views it.
JOHESU is insisting that the FG honors all the agreement it reached with them, especially as it has to do with allowing their members to reach consultancy level, upward review of the CONHESS salary as agreed with FG, retirement age at 65 and few others. NMA on the other hand believes that the increment in salary for JOHESU will place them at par. They have also fought some JOHESU professionals from attaining consultancy status as well as using the prefix ‘Doctor’ before their name.
First of all, who is a Doctor? The word was never a medical word from origin. It is a Latin word from 1300, which means “Church father,” from Old French doctour, from Medieval Latin doctor “religious teacher, adviser, scholar,” in classical Latin “teacher,” agent noun from docere “to show, teach, cause to know,” originally “make to appear right,” causative of decere “be seemly, fitting,” from PIE root dek- “to take, accept”, as defined by etymonline. When the art of healing came into serious practice, the word ‘Doctor’ was used to replace the word ‘leech’, which they were initially called.
It therefore brings us to the argument on those entitled to use the suffix ‘Dr’ before their names in the health sector. First of all, it’s an acceptable fact that no one went to school to study ‘doctoring’. Unlike Engineers who derived their title from their course of study, this is not entirely so in the health sector.
In the school of health or school of medicine, as it’s called in different universities, the courses are Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing, Medical Rehabilitation or Physical Medicine, Radiography, Medical Laboratory and Optometry. None of these courses is called Doctoring. The word Doctor came to be associated with the art of healing in the medieval period and were initially called Physician and still called so till date. With the advent of Doctor of Philosophy which is the highest level associated with teaching, it later became ascribed to those saddled with the art of healing.
The question now bothers to who is a healer in the health profession and who is a paramedic; a degrading word that has been used many times by Nigerian Physicians to spite other medical workers, who retaliates by calling them Allopathic officers.
In line with international best practices, only the World Health Organisation (WHO) not World Medical Association and International Labor Organisation (ILO) can define the meaning of every profession. In listing structures for each worker, all professionals were listed as ‘Health Professionals’ and not ‘Medical Professionals’. They were divided into two health groups for easy recognition. The first group listed are: Medical Doctors (Generalist Medical Practitioners and Specialist Medical Practitioners), Nursing and Midwifery Professionals, Traditional and Complementary Medicine Professionals, ***Paramedical Practitioners and Veterinarians.
The second group listed Dentists, Pharmacists, Environmental and Occupational Health and Hygiene Professionals, Physiotherapists, Dieticians and Nutritionists, Audiologists and Speech Therapists, Optometrists and Ophthalmic Opticians and Health Professionals Not Elsewhere Classified.
Note that Dentists which is a member of NMA is in the second category and Paramedics in the first category, according to International best practices that we like to flout.
Let us take a look at WHO definition of these core workers in the health sector.
According to WHO, ‘a Generalist medical doctors (including family and primary care doctors) diagnose, TREAT and prevent illness, disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments and maintain general health in humans through application of the principles and procedures of modern medicine. They plan, supervise and evaluate the implementation of care and treatment plans by other health care providers. They do not limit their practice to certain disease categories or methods of treatment, and may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families and communities’.
Same WHO notes that ‘Nursing professionals provide TREATMENT, support and care services for people who are in need of nursing care due to the effects of ageing, injury, illness or other physical or mental impairment, or potential risks to health, according to the practice and standards of modern nursing. They assume responsibility for the planning and management of the care of patients, including the supervision of other health care workers, working autonomously or in teams with medical doctors and others in the practical application of preventive and curative measures in clinical and community settings’.
Going down to traditional level, WHO was direct when it stated that ‘Traditional and complementary medicine professionals examine patients and prevent and TREAT illness, disease, injury and other physical, mental and psychosocial ailments by applying knowledge, skills and practices acquired through extensive study of the theories and experiences originating in specific cultures. They research, develop and implement treatment plans using applications such as acupuncture, ayurvedic, homoeopathic and herbal medicine’.
For Dentists, the world body noted that ‘Dentists (including dental surgeons and related) diagnose, TREAT and prevent diseases, injuries and abnormalities of the teeth, mouth, jaws and associated tissues by applying the principles and procedures of modern dentistry. They use a broad range of specialized diagnostic, surgical and other techniques to promote and restore oral health’.
According to its supreme definition, ‘Pharmacists store, preserve, compound and dispense medicinal products. They counsel on the proper use and adverse effects of drugs and medicines following prescriptions issued by medical doctors and other health professionals. They contribute to researching, testing, preparing, prescribing and monitoring medicinal therapies for optimizing human health’.
For Physiotherapists, WHO didn’t mince word saying that ‘Physiotherapists assess, plan and implement rehabilitative programs that improve or restore human motor functions, maximize movement ability, relieve pain syndromes, and treat or prevent physical challenges associated with injuries, diseases and other impairments. They apply a broad range of physical therapies and techniques such as movement, ultrasound, heating, laser and other techniques. They may develop and implement programmes for screening and prevention of common physical ailments and disorders. ILO in classifying their job stated that “Physiotherapists and related associate professionals TREAT disorders of bones, muscles and parts of the circulatory or the nervous system by manipulative methods, and ultrasound, heating, laser or similar techniques, or apply physiotherapy and related therapies as part of the treatment for the physically disabled, mentally ill or unbalanced.
For Optometrists, the world body says Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians provide diagnosis, management and TREATMENT services for disorders of the eyes and visual system. They counsel and advise on eye care and safety, and prescribe optical aids or other therapies for visual disturbance.
While this may sound as a thesis, I will leave out what the sacred definition of WHO and ILO gave to the two eyes of medicine, notably Radiography and Medical Laboratory. The reader can Google it up.
By these definitions, five professions TREAT sicknesses and disorders and one provides the drugs or body gel they prescribe, while two gives a clearer picture of the diagnosis through tests and imaging.
They are General Practitioner called Medical Doctor, Traditional or complimentary medicine practitioners/
Homeopathy, Dentists, Nurses, Optometrists and Physiotherapists. Nursing being a unique and distinct profession cannot be called Doctors, but the rest whose primary duties is to diagnose treat and certify fit can be called Doctor if their regulatory body so wish.
On consultancy status, it is criminal for a profession to demand for such almighty position simply because of the years spent in service and not by merit. It’s akin to saying a lecturer can rise to the level of Professorship without studying to get PhD. This is where I disagree with JOHESU. Medical Doctors who are consultants didn’t jump the rope. They went through the rigors of residency training, became fellows and merited it.
Medical practice is not law that is determined by the years of practice which leads to the award of SAN. It is study, quest to break medical grounds and solve the everyday health challenges that the world faces. No amount of experience can totally give clinicians that except devotion to knowledge, which is gained through the appropriate postgraduate school or colleges.
It is however unjust for the current disparity in salaries of the two warring groups. Whoever separated the salary structure into CONMESS and CONHESS is the common enemy that we should be fighting today.
It’s absurd and ridiculous that a House Officer will earn higher than a working class Nurse or any other core medical practitioners, when the difference in study is one year. Only a specialist GP should be allowed to earn more than any other clinician, who refuses to also specialize in his/her own field.
The FG should as a matter of urgency make all health workers one salary structure, and their wages determined by level of qualification and specialty as operated globally. The Ministry of Health should be headed by hospitals administrators and not physicians, just as the hospitals should not also be headed by a Dentist or Nurse.
For heaven sake, it’s a profit making venture and not a professional body that the Medical Doctors heading it have turned it to. Only the Chief Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) head should be a Physician while the Deputy CMAC should be from other clinical department like Medical Laboratory or Pharmacy.
International best practices that we scream always have proven that the top countries in medical field do not have any health worker as their Minister or Head of health sector. Oh, what about the almighty WHO that defines health, the head is not also a medical doctor, but a biologist. If WHO was a Nigerian union, it’s crystal clear that there would have been strike if a Nurse is appointed the head. What then are we saying?
As for JOHESU, calling off the strike now will forever bring your union to doom. Let the government stop salaries till next year, but do not give in to threats and blackmail. Your requests apart from ‘consultancy by years of service’ are just, and Nigerians are solidly behind you, even though we are the ones that ultimately feel the pain. There’s unity in strength and this is the time to be united. The battle is not against NMA but the Federal Government who reserves the right to implement your demands.
Every profession is independent of each other and this right to decency of work cannot be taken from you, not now, tomorrow or in the future.
To be continued…
These little things matter…
Fejiro Oliver, an Investigative Journalist, Media Consultant and Human Rights Activist is also the Co-Convener of Coalition of Human Rights Defender (CHORD) and can be reached on +2348022050733 (SMS ONLY) or secretsreporters@gmail.com. Engage him on twitter on @fejirooliver86.