TheCable

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kwara chapter, says its members have been victims of physical and verbal attacks almost every week.

Ola Ahmed, the state NMA chairman, said this on Monday while speaking with journalists in Ilorin, the state capital.

Ahmed spoke following the alleged attack on a doctor at the University of Ilorin teaching hospital (UITH), by relatives of a patient.

As a result of the incident, the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the hospital had, on December 30, announced the commencement a five-day strike and called for the presence of armed security personnel at all emergency points within the hospital.

Speaking on Monday, Ahmed said medical doctors in public healthcare facilities across the state and the UITH are being attacked for no cogent reason.

He also said the series of assaults is causing psychological trauma for the association’s members and that they have begun to fear for their lives.

“Attacks on our members have been recorded across different hospitals in the state,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“Several reports, engagement, and letters have been written to our employees, especially the management of UITH and Kwara government, but we have not seen remarkable improvement.”

He called on the public to empathise with doctors, irrespective of dissatisfaction in the course of receiving care in hospitals, and to follow due process in expressing their grievances.

Ahmed also urged security agencies, especially the police, to beef up security in UITH and other health facilities, and to ensure diligent prosecution of ongoing cases of attack on healthcare personnel in the state.