The doctors are set to resume on Wednesday.

The doctor’s union had in August embarked on the strike following a disagreement with the federal government over the non-availability of medical equipment at public tertiary hospitals.

In a meeting held among delegates of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and NARD on Sunday in Abuja, the FCT, the NMA advised NARD to stop the ongoing industrial action.

NMA,at the meeting mandated the National Officers Committee (NOC) to ensure the implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the federal government on August 21.

The association asked NOC to report back to the National Executive Council of NMA periodically on the progress being made on implementing the MOU.

NMA also mandated the NOC to continue to interface with the chairmen of the state branches, including the FCT, on the progress being made.

NARD president, Godiya Ishaya, officially called off the association’s strike, Daily Dates Nigeria reports.

He said, “We’ve officially suspended the strike to resume at 8:00 am on Wednesday. We made the decision in the wee hours of today. We held an emergency meeting from 5:30 pm on Sunday to the morning hours of today, and the NEC decided that having reviewed the progress made so far, the strike should be suspended.”

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National Assembly, on Thursday, appealed to the members to call off their ongoing strike in the interest of all Nigerians.

The lawmakers assured the resident doctors that their grievances would be resolved in the shortest possible time, Daily Dates Nigeria reports.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, and his House of Representatives counterpart, Yusuf Tanko Sununu, made the appeal during the flag-off of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) sensitization campaign in eight states.

Oloriegbe said, “I appeal to our resident doctors to please go back to work. A strike by any doctor can lead to loss of lives and any life lost can never be regained.

“Every issue about the strike is mostly about money, and we can always pay arrears, but there are no arrears to life.

“In view of this, whatever the issues are, they can always be resolved through dialogue. I call on them to go back to work while discussions are going on.

“The issues are with the Ministry of Health. They have held a meeting, and meetings will continue to ensure that the issues are resolved.”

“It is important that Nigerians have access to health care and access to qualified and competent doctors in our public hospitals. I hope they will listen and yield to this call and ensure that services are restored.”

The Chairman, House Committee on Health, Yusuf Sununu also said “We do know that there are some issues raised and we are working hard to ensure that those issues are resolved within the shortest possible time.

“I do hope that they will get the cooperation of everybody, including the Executive arm of the government so that we can fast-track the calling off of this strike.”

NAFDAC earlier announced that it has embarked on a public sensitisation campaign across the nation, to combat the high rate of unregulated products and their inherent dangers to public health.

NAFDAC’s Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye lamented the alarming rate at which substandard products were being paraded.

Adeyeye noted that it has become crucial for the agency to embark on a significant sensitisation campaign to regulate substandard products in Nigeria.

According to her, the awareness campaign is important to promote and protect the health of citizens.

The NAFDAC boss earlier disclosed that significant sensitisation campaigns were scheduled to hold in eight states of the federation, adding that the first phase of the sensitisation campaigns will be held in selected states across the country from August to September 2021.

Adeyeye noted that the sensitisation campaigns are being organised in phases as the agency intends to cover all 36 states of the federation within available resources.

She also mentioned that a well-informed, sensitised, and educated citizenry is the bedrock of effective regulation.

According to her, citizens need to be informed about the deleterious effects of unwholesome food, falsified medical products, harmful cosmetics, poor water, and other substandard products.

The post NASS Appeals To Resident Doctors To Suspend Strike appeared first on Daily Dates Nigeria.

NARD on Saturday signed a new agreement with the federal government.

President of NARD, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, explained that the new agreement was concerning issues raised in the association’s 13-point demand.

Okhuaihesuyi further said the federal government at a meeting which lasted hours and stretched into the late hours of Friday, promised to address the issues raised by the doctors, including salary arrears and owed allowances.

Also, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, confirmed that the representatives of the federal government and those of NARD have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) after a conciliatory meeting was held.

Ngige said the federal government has also set up a committee to look into the issue of irregular payment, adding that the panel will revert within the next 72 hours.

“A five-man committee has been set up, comprising of the government agencies concerned — federal ministry of health chairing — representatives of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, accountant-general’s office, NMA, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, and the chairman of the committee of CMDs.

“They’re to work and smoothen rough edges as those affected in the irregularities we mentioned, which is the issue of double payments in some cases. So, they have to manage the situation and regularise. There are issues of some still omitted.

“We gave them 72 hours to meet from tomorrow and give us a clean, authenticated list, so that even in the subsequent months, we won’t have all these hiccups anymore.”

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