Between The Lagos Government & The Doctors

My younger sister 'Hurricane K' is currently studying medicine at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital. I'm so proud of her. Every time she comes home she's always using us her family members as lab rats; diagnosing this and that. I remember when she learnt to give injections, sister was always threatening us that she would give us injections imagine! Even though she's a twin, she's the baby of the house. In the next three years she'll be a medical doctor and people will start calling me 'Egbon doctor' :-).

My baby doc aka Dr Keni G

A couple of weeks ago, the Lagos State Government sacked Seven Hundred and Eighty Eight medical doctors. Yes 788! To replace the sacked doctors, they went and hired three hundred and seventy three doctors described by a Punch columnist as neophytes.What were the demands of the sacked doctors? "Improved working conditions".

Now Federal Government hospitals have gone on strike as well to protest the sacking of their colleagues. The Nigerian Medical Association chairman says their strike will not end till the sacked doctors are recalled. Even the private hospital doctors are appealing to the government.

In all the hullabaloo, what I'm trying to understand is was there no negotiation between the government and the doctors. Were their demands so preposterous? Why were they sacked just like that?

Some people have argued that the doctors should have never gone on strike in the first place, that as a physician who has taken the Hippocratic oath, you've got a duty to perform and people to look after. I'm just saying, what if they (the doctors) just wanted to be looked after too? And they felt their employers were not doing enough for them.

What about the masses? Will they be catered to health wise? Are there enough doctors to look after/treat them? Will they be used as lab rats by the beginner doctors? The truth is they are the ones who'll suffer from all this. Does the Government really care?

Now what happens to the seven hundred and eighty eight people who are now out of job and most now homeless?  (They got kicked out of their government owned homes as soon as they were sacked).

Just saw in the papers that Governor Fashola will be on 60minutes with Angela showing on AIT today at 4:30pm and he'll be talking about the sacked Lagos State Doctors amongst other things. Will be tuning in to hear what he has to say.

As we Nigerians always say: It is well. Check out the post I wrote about a year ago about My experience at a primary health care clinic. x