By Nasir Imam, Sunday Ejike Benjamin & Abdullahi M. Gulloma

Secretary, Health and Human Services secretariat in the FCT, Hajiya Amina Bala Zakari, who disclosed this to newsmen yesterday at a post-exco briefing, said that the strike action embarked upon by the medical and health workers is coming on the heels of a meeting held Monday night which ended in a deadlock.
The workers downed their tools to also protest the uncertainty over the sale of government hospital quarters to them, improper conditions of service and lack of a conducive working environment.
She said that the payment of arrears of the 22% increase in the workers’ emoluments, which has already been implemented, or is being implemented in other states, had already been approved and would be paid either in September or latest October and attributed the delay to late passage of the budget by the National Assembly.
On another demand of the workers over the sale of government houses, the Health and Human Services Secretary said the FCT administration has accepted to facilitate the financing of health workers who are residing in hospital quarters to purchase houses of their choice, even though they do not qualify for mortgage through the sale of housing guidelines.
Hajiya Amina Bala Zakari said government was not unmindful of the welfare of medical and health staff especially in the area of proper placement and promotion, training and recruitment, including dual employment which only health workers are allowed to enjoy.
She said the FCT administration had since September last year, commenced the payment of staff monetization benefits before any other government parastatal started doing so.
Meanwhile, the strike action has started biting hard on patients who were allegedly discharged against medical practice.
Patients were left unattended to, thereby worsening their health condition. A patient, Miss Ugo Ogbauche, who was operated upon on August 17, 2005, for fibroid at the Asokoro General Hospital, told Daily Trust that she was sent out of the hospital last Saturday even though she still experiences pains on where she was operated upon.
According to her, she was at the hospital yesterday morning to complain of the pains only to meet the entrance of the hospital under lock, as doctors and other medical personnel were said to have commenced a strike which she said they had been planning since the past two weeks.
Ogbauche who is contemplating going to a private hospital for treatment, also expressed fears that private hospitals will take advantage of the strike to increase their bills which she said, will not augur well for patients.
The visibly sick 28-year old Ogbauche called on the MFCT administration to quickly address the issue so that doctors can return to work, adding that, “it is the patients that will suffer during the strike. Government should treat this issue with utmost urgency to save people’s lives”
She appealed to doctors to reason with the MFCT administration to handle the problem, with a view to returning to work in the interest of patients whose lives it is their duty to save.
When Daily Trust visited the Wuse General Hospital, Abuja, at noon yesterday, few doctors were seen carrying out skeletal services. Checks at the hospital revealed that only emergency cases are being attended to.
The ever bubbling Wuse General Hospital, Daily Trust gathered yesterday evening, was devoid of its hustle and bustle as doors leading to the wards were halve closed with few patients lying unattended to.
All efforts to reach the national president of the Medical and Health Workers Union, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, at the time of going to press, proved abortive.