Kwara government, on Monday, met with members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) over the notice of strike given by the medical doctors working with the state government.

The medical doctors had earlier given the government a 21-day ultimatum to attend to their requests or face a strike. The truce was brokered at the meeting between the state government and the executive officers of the NMA in Ilorin.

While the state government was represented by the head of service, Susan Oluwole, the NMA team was led by the chairman, Abdulkadir Ahmed.

Speaking at the meeting, Mrs Oluwole, while acknowledging the demands of the doctors, said that most of the issues were not peculiar to the medical profession and that the government was already taking steps to alleviate the problems and enhance the welfare of the entire workforce.

Mrs Oluwole enjoined members of the association to exercise restraint, stressing that the threat to embark on strike was uncalled for at this moment.

“The government has a massive plan for the revival of the health sector, and by the time it is concluded, nobody will have a reason to go to ‘japa’,” she said.

Abubakar Ayinla, the permanent secretary of the ministry of health, acknowledged the efforts of the present administration in repositioning the health sector.

He noted that the state government had made regular payment of the doctors’ salaries a priority, in addition to improving the working facilities in the hospitals.

“Doctors were the first to enjoy the new salary scale before other sectors in the state and have been paid the CONSAS, while the government is also looking into the hazard allowance matter,” he said.

In his reaction, the NMA chairman said that the workload on medical doctors working with the state government was massive due to lack of qualified hands.

He noted that there had been a low response to the advertised employment of new doctors, attributing this to what he called “poor take home pay for medical officers.”

Mr Ahmed called on the government to urgently look into the improvement of the salary and hazard allowance of the doctors in order to make the state attractive for qualified health professionals.

(NAN)