Resident doctors commence nationwide strike
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has commenced a nationwide strike following the expiration of an ultimatum it issued on September 1 to the federal government.
The resident doctors on September 1, issued a 10-day ultimatum to the government to address their grievances, and had extended the ultimatum by 24 hours on Thursday.
According to the NARD president Tope Osundara, their demands revolved around welfare issues.
“It’s majorly about welfare. We also have issues of shortage of manpower in almost all healthcare centres and facilities across the nation,” he said.
Their key demands include the release of 2025 medical residency training fund (MRTF), payment of the arrears of the 2024 accoutrement allowance and the five months arrears of 10% of the revised consolidated medical salary structure.
They also asked the government to reverse the downgrade of membership certificates of the West African Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
The Syndicate reports that resident doctors are medical doctors undertaking specialist training in Nigeria and form the majority of doctors attending to patients across the country.
