By Asmau Ahmad
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has urged the striking members of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to call off their ongoing strike and embrace dialogue.
The Sultan made the call during the opening ceremony of the 20th Conference of the National Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria (APSON) in Sokoto.
He appealed to the doctors to also respect the court order to resume work in the interest of the nation.
Abubakar III, advised the doctors to involve elders, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to engage the government in dialogue.
He noted that strike should be the last option in resolving industrial conflict, especially for medical workers whose responsibility had to do with saving lives of citizens.
Earlier, President of the National Association of APSON, Prof. Auwal Abubakar, called on the Federal Government to establish specialised children hospitals across the nation.
Prof. Abubakar said this had become necessary due to the fact that children make up about 50 per cent of the nation’s population with demanding healthcare needs.
He suggested that at least the government should establish one specialised children hospital in each of the six geopolitical regions in the country.
The president urged the government to invest in equipping the nation’s healthcare facilities to enable effective healthcare delivery to help in reducing medical tourism.
He also called for free medical care for children at all levels to improve health indices in the country.
The conference is expected to address challenges such as anterior abdominal wall defects, Paediatric malignancies; drawbacks and prospect as well as the impact of COVID-19 on Paediatric surgical practice in Nigeria.
The association also provided free medical services and health awareness campaign as part of the four days events.
