Patients in public hospitals in Abia continue to bear the brunt of the attacks carried out by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondents, who monitored the attack, reported total compliance with NMA directives at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) and the Abia Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital in Umuahia.
The association in Abia had on December 9 declared a strike but on January 10 declared a total and indefinite strike.
The agency has declared a strike over unpaid salary arrears of 25 and 13 months respectively for Abia State University Teaching Hospital and Hospital Management Board employees.
A patient, Mrs Glory Orji, said she traveled from Aba to FMC to receive prompt medical attention but was disappointed by the attack.
“The matter of health is very important and should be treated as such by all concerned, therefore, I urge the government to do the needful,” Orji said.
Another patient, Mr. Fidelis Onuoha, said he lives in Imo and was at FMC Umuahia for a routine medical check-up, but was concerned that the doctors were not seeing patients.
Onuoha said the development disturbed and disturbed him and called on the government to meet the demand of the doctors because the citizens are in need of health.
The expectant mother, Mrs. Eunice Njoku, appealed to the doctors to perform bone services because of the patients who visited the hospital for emergency medical treatment.
Njoku called on the state government to meet the demands of the doctors and end the strike without further delay.
A physiotherapist, Miss Veronica Ahamefula, said she took her sister to the hospital to see a neurologist but was told the doctors were on strike.
“I am calling on the government to meet the demands of the NMA because its members play an important role in the health and well-being of the people,” Ahamefula added.
FMC Protocol Officer, Mr Darlington Madubuko, said doctors at FMC joined the strike to show support for their colleagues at Abia hospital.
Madubuko said the attack had affected the delivery of health care at the hospital, pointing out that admitted patients had been driven away to seek health care elsewhere.
“You can see that everywhere is empty; this is a total attack and I don’t know when it will end,” he said.
Madubuko called on the state government to clear the salary arrears of doctors in state health institutions so that they can return to their posts.
A visit to the Abia Specialist and Diagnostic Hospital revealed that the health facility, which used to be a beehive, was deserted.
A nurse at the hospital, who requested anonymity for fear of victimization, said the hospital was no longer admitting patients.
He said the boys’ and girls’ wards and the Accident and Emergency Unit were empty because of the strike on doctors.
Mrs. Mary Chimahulamiro, a farmer, said she took her husband to the hospital for a regular medical appointment but had to leave because no doctor would attend to him.
Chimahulamiro said the attack ruined his plans and called on the government to intervene to address the cause of the attack.
The Chairman of NMA Abia Chapter, Dr Isaiah Abali, said the association had set up a monitoring team to ensure total compliance and sanctions against defaulters.
“The government has remained silent. They have not approached us on this matter and we will not ask because our message is ‘pay our salaries’.
“If the current administration does not pay us, the attack will continue until the new administration comes to the board in the country,” said Abali.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Osuji, said the government had done its best, so it was now left to the NMA to respond and meet the government’s efforts.
However, Osuji did not say what the government has done since the strike began to warrant a response from the NMA.
“Bringing the attack to the end depends on the NMA,” he said.