By Audu Iliya

The joint action committee of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Nasarawa state chapter has urged Nasarawa State Government to improve conditions of service for its members.

The chairman of the joint committee Mr. Avre Obadiah made this known while addressing a press conference last week in Lafia the state capital. He said, the seven days ultimatum was as a result of government refusal to meet their demands for better conditions of service and the need to improve the poor state of health care infrastructure in the state.

He explained that, the joint committee of the union demanded that, government should increase funding of health sector with the particular attention to the provision of equipment such as drugs, electricity, ambulances for referral services and residential quarters for the professionals if the Millennium Development Goals was to be realized in the State.

Mr. Obadiah added that, available records have shown that there was a high rate of migration of highly, skilled professionals from the state hospitals on daily basis due to poor salaries and fringe benefits.

While appreciating the efforts of the state government for initiating the free treatment programme in the state, the chairman observed that, the inability of government to continue the funding of the programme has caused its members a lot of embarrassment from patients who come to hospitals believing that they are to be treated free.

He called on the state government to resume funding of the programme as soon as possible.

Mr. Obadiah said, other things demanded from the state government include the implementation of CONTISS in Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, reduce infant-maternity rate in rural areas, uniform allowance and that the school of Nursing, Lafia and School of Health Technology, Keffi should be given autonomy like other higher institutions in the state.

The chairman said, in order to meet the objectives of Millennium Development Goals in the state, the state government should review its policy of posting health workers to local government areas of the state so as to reduce the rate of infant-mortality in the rural areas in the state.