The Federal Government on Tuesday appealed to striking Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) members to resume work as negotiation was ongoing.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made the appeal at the induction of foreign trained medical laboratory scientists in Abuja by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSC).
Ehanire, represented by Dr Shuaibu Belgare, Senior Technical Assistant to the minister, deplored the strike which had disrupted normal services in federal public hospitals.
He further decried the professional disharmony in the health sector, noting that nobody is considering the plight of patients.
The minister said all major stakeholders in the healthcare sector should be concerned with the ethics of their professions.
“We are all looking for what we can get; nobody is thinking about the patients, which is the primary purpose of being in the workforce.
“As I speak, JOHESU is on strike; hospitals are not providing services”.
“Please go back to work to salvage the situation while negotiation is going on; government will do everything possible to meet your demands,” he said.
While congratulating the inductees for their success, Ehanire described laboratory scientists as extremely important in healthcare delivery.
According to him, without the laboratory scientists patients would end up being treated wrongly at every point in time.
He enjoined them to consider themselves as professionals and as well accord the profession due respect.
Ehanire identified part of the qualification that must be possess by the scientists as attaching great value to services they rendered, having compassion for patients been the primary purpose of service, among others.
He also urged them to derive pleasure in taking up responsibilities that were rejected by their fellows to ensure professional excellence.
The minister identified precision as key in the profession to ensure quality healthcare delivery.
Ehanire intimated them of government policies on quality healthcare delivery bothering on primary health care.
According to him, the initiative is aimed at bringing healthcare to the doorsteps of the masses.
Dr Bassey Enya Bassey, the President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), urged the inductees not to compromise integrity in the course of practice.
Bassey assured them of the association’s support for their well-being to ensure professional excellence.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, Mr Ahmad Bakore, commended the council for the inductions and called for the support of their superiors to achieve the desired success in their practices.
He said, “We can do nothing without our superiors supporting us or beckoning on us when we are going astray”.
Bakore pledged to uphold the ethics of the profession”.
