Lagos Doctors To Begin Warning Strike On Monday

Doctors in Lagos State under the aegis of the Medical Guild are set to begin a three-day warning strike from Monday.

The Chairman of the guild, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, announced this on Sunday while addressing a press conference in Lagos State.

According to him, the medical practitioners took the decision to embark on industrial action over issues they say affect their safety and welfare.

Sodipo explained that the decision formed part of the resolutions reached during the meeting of the leadership of the association convened to review the challenges of medical doctors in the state.

He said, “After robust deliberations, the Council observed that the following were some of the unresolved demands of the Guild.

“They include wage disparity between Federal and Lagos State doctors which was not being given attention, the issue of COVID-19 hazard allowances and inducement allowances as approved by the Federal Government which have not yet been domesticated by Lagos State for her doctors; that the doctors working in the isolation centres were still being owed two months’ allowances which have not been paid as at the time of the meeting.”

“There were also concerns that they (the doctors) were unceremoniously disengaged without recourse to their welfare,” the guild chairman added.

In view of the challenges, he revealed that the representative council resolved to activate the resolution of the association on a three-day warning strike.

Sodipo noted that the industrial action would commence from 8am on Monday to 8am on Thursday.

He, however, said members of the guild working in the state’s coronavirus (COVID-19) isolation centres have been exempted.

As the doctors prepare to go on strike, the Lagos State government said 224 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed positive out of the 1,245 tests conducted on Saturday.

It added that as of July 11, Lagos has a total of 12,280 confirmed cases of COVID-19 from 48,929 tests conducted so far.

The Commissioner for Health in the state, Professor Akin Abayomi, who disclosed the figures via his Twitter handle on Sunday confirmed that 1,850 cases have since been discharged from the government’s care centres following their full recovery from the disease.

According to him, 329 cases are currently under isolation in public and private care centres while 2,023 active cases in communities are yet to turn up for admission.