A two-month-old baby has died at the Daughters
of Charity Hospital, Kubwa, the Federal Capital
Territory, FCT, as a result of lack of oxygen for
treatment following the nation wide strike
embarked upon by doctors.
Meantime, a member of the Senate Committee on
Health, Senator Magery Okadigbo, has appealed
to the striking doctors to consider the poor
Nigerian masses and call off the industrial action
they embarked upon as a result of unresolved
welfare packages with the Federal Government.
Hospital sources told Sunday Vanguard that the
baby had high fever and was brought to the
hospital when the situation became critical and
the mother was allegedly told by the doctor on
duty that the condition was extremely bad.
Although the medical team was said to have
made frantic efforts to revive the baby that was
brought to the hospital about 12 am Sunday, the
efforts did not yield result as the baby gave up
at about 4pm that day.
The hospital sources said if the baby had been
placed on oxygen at the time he was brought
there, perhaps, he would have lived.
Efforts made to speak to the mother of the baby,
who was crying uncontrollably, did not yield result
even as the hospital management kept mute
while the medical doctor who tried to revive the
baby to no avail was in a bad mood.
Speaking in an interview, the senator representing
Anambra North and a member of the Senate
Committee on Health, Okadigbo, appealed to the
doctors to respect the ethics of the profession
they sworn-to and go back to work.
Okadigbo, who has attracted five health centers
to her constituency and will be giving out
empowerment packages to over 700 people
including 100 widows and physically challenged
people, said that it was the masses that were
suffering the effect of the strike.
She said, “I have a personal experience on the
issue of strike in the health sector.
About 11
years ago, when my husband (the late Chuba
Okadigbo) was sick and we had to take him to
hospital, we took him round three hospitals in
Abuja here and he eventually gave up.
“It is a bit difficult to understand while someone
who took an oath to save lives and failed to think
about it but rather chooses to go against that
oath. To me, it is personal but we can only
appeal. We at the Senate Committee level had a
meeting with them.
“Yes, some of their demands were reasonable.
They need improved conditions of service, but
some of the demands are a bit frivolous in my
opinion but we can only appeal that they should
all come together and find a way to resolve the
issue.
“People are dying daily as a result of the strike
while the demands include mundane things like
justifying the need for better conditions of service
because you spent more years in the university
than other health workers. The NMA should be
reasonable with their demands.”
Okadigbo disclosed that she has attracted five
health centers to his constituency, adding that
three out of the five health centers had been
completed while two were near completion,” she
Said.
”I was two years in the senate on July 17, I will
say I was effectively in the upper chamber for one
year because the first year was spent in the
court room chasing after judgement.
”But I also feel it is right to appreciate the
constituency that had stood by me, throughout
the struggle in court. So on the 18th; I want to
have my empowerment day which will be the first
in my constituency.
”Members of my constituency are all excited
about it because it has never happened in such a
large scale before in the entire seven local
government areas consisting 99 wards of the
senatorial district. We are trying to empower
about 700 people with various items while the
Senate President, David Mark, is expected as the
special guest of honour
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