President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Kayode Obembe, has said the doctors’ body is ready to bring the industrial action embarked upon by medical doctors across the country to an end.
Obembe is said to have revealed this during a close-door session with Senate President, Senator David Mark on Tuesday night through the early hours.
According to a statement by the chief press secretary to the Senate President, Paul Mumeh on Wednesday, the meeting was also attended by Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Senator Tunde Ogbeha, as well as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe.
In the statement, which provides an update on the meeting, Mumeh explained that Obembe said he would not give the exact date and time that the strike would be called off until he reported back to his members But assured that it would be called off soon.
The statement quotes the NMA leader as saying the meeting was “very useful and successful” although he lamented as incorrect “the notion in some quarters that the striking doctors abandoned the nation in this trying times of major heath challenge on account of the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease.”
“Doctors were not unmindful of the health challenges faced by the nation at the moment but needed government to correct some abnormalities in the health sector to make it more effective and responsive to the health care needs of the citizens,” the statement says, as Obembe pledged to convene a stakeholders meeting soon as part of the process to put an end to the current industrial action which is now 51 days old.
This strike by doctors at this critical period is regrettable