The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has stated that it cannot disrupt health services in Enugu State, following the strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), because their renumeration and welfare have been enhanced by the state government.
The association also commended Gov. Peter Mbah for motivating healthcare workers in the state with improved remuneration.
The Chairman, NMA, Enugu State chapter, Dr. Sunday Okafor, disclosed this during a Press Conference marking the 2025 Physicians’ Week and Maiden Enugu South-East Regional Health Summit in Enugu, on Monday.
According to Okafor, “doctors in the state, under Mbah, are one of the best paid healthcare workers in the country, in terms of remuneration for medical personnel”.
He said that “health workers owed gratitude to the governor, whose vision and love to improve efficiency across the public health system and public service, had continued to be an enigma to everyone”.
He, therefore, called on the Federal Government and other governors to emulate Gov. Mbah to prioritise the welfare of health workers for improved service delivery and prevent frequent industrial actions by NARD members.
“It is on record that in the country that Enugu healthcare personnel are the highest paid and, as a parent body, we cannot disrupt health services in those areas where the governor is actually doing well.
“We allowed resident doctors in the federal hospitals in the state to embark on strike, but not in Enugu State hospitals because Gov. Mbah is motivating state health workers.
“The issue of the strike revolve around poor renumeration and welfare of health workers, so we don’t have issues with the Enugu State Government, in terms of remuneration and welfare,” Okafor stressed.
He emphasised the need for the Federal Government to resolve the issue with resident doctors so they could attend to their teeming patients.
He said that shutting down the healthcare system would disrupt social services and make patients to suffer.
He also commended Mbah for investing in healthcare infrastructure by improving primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals in the state.
“The governor is building Type II primary health centres across 260
electoral wards in Enugu State and each of them is actually being operationalised.
“NMA Enugu State chapter has continued to partner with the government because when you see the vision of the leader, you complement his efforts,” he said.
Speaking on the theme, “Healthcare as a Value Chain – Building Efficiency from Policy to Patients” for the physicians’ week, Okafor called for patient-centred policies to address health inequalities.
“So we have decided for the first time in our history to have a regional health summit, where the various heads of our health systems in the South-East will say what they were able to do to improve the healthcare system,” he said.
