Physicians are striking and demanding more protection as the virus spreads.
Compare the average salary of a Nigerian doctor which is over a million Naira, with that of the average earnings of a Nigerian senator who rakes in an average of one hundred and sixty two million Naira, minus allowance fees. The figure is a stark reality of a nation belching on misplaced priorities and driven to the cliff by the greed of irresponsible leaders.
The Nigeria health system is faced with a double-edged sword with the outbreak of the novel corona-virus and the outbreak of Lassa fever, it’s no wonder the health workers on the front line feel like soldiers without ammunition. Yet the government plays the devils advocate with sanctions for Insubordination.
The question is how does the demand for Protective gear negate the Hippocratic Oath?
The novel corona-virus pandemic has changed that
On June 15, thousands of Nigerian physicians went on a strike to highlight the dangerous conditions they face in the outbreak.
Over 250 doctors in Nigeria have been affected since the outbreak of the virus and at least 12 have died in the front-line.
The union berates a lack of sufficient protective equipment, haven’t received promised overtime bonuses, and have been shaken down by police while commuting during the lock-down.
“We’re putting in our best in the Covid response,” says Muhammad, a union leader in Zaria. “And the government isn’t ready to give us adequate protection.”
Across Africa, doctors are pushing back against the risks they’re being asked to shoulder in the pandemic.
In Kenya, several health-care unions have threatened to strike if the government doesn’t better protect them.
“Our members are given one mask for a 16-hour shift,” more than three times as long as they’re supposed to be worn”
Seth Panyako, secretary-general for the Kenya National Union of Nurses.
World Health Organization representatives in the region say almost 1,000 health professionals in Africa have been infected with COVID-19—as many as 10% of workers in the sector in some countries.
The National Association of Resident Doctors says police and other security agents have berated, assaulted, and extorted payments from members on their way to work, even though the government said people rendering essential services were exempt from curfews. The doctors say it took three months for the government to send protective gear, and they ended up buying it themselves.
Some 14,000 of the union’s 18,000 members joined the seven-day strike, but on June 22 they went back to work under pressure from the government.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the doctors have been paid everything they asked for and sharply criticized them for betraying the trust of patients.
The walkout “clearly negates the Hippocratic Oath,” Mohammed said in a statement, “putting many lives at risk.”
Medical personnel will give the government a month to meet its obligations before deciding whether to renew the strike.
“It’s come so close to us, It’s scary to think that you are going to see patients without protection.”
The cost of health remains a big challenge in Nigeria
With two hundred and eighty-two million Naira allocated to over two hundred million people in this year’s budget, and more than half of the population living in extreme poverty (with eight hundred Naira a day), the Nigeria Government is not too far from a madding crowd.
