National Assembly(NASS) has urged resident doctors to halt their ongoing strike.
Gatekeepers News reports that the National Assembly, on Thursday, appealed to the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) 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.
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) sensitisation 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.
