Pfizer Nigeria’s Country Manager, Mr Yinka Subair, has urged Nigerian doctors and other health workers to be wary of industrial action as the only potent means to draw the attention of the government to their demands, adding that they could be victims of the same strike action.
The Pfizer Country Manager gave the advice in his keynote address at the ongoing 2021 Scientific Week of the PSN, Lagos State Branch with the theme, “Combating Pandemics: Multilevel Engagement of Pharmacists in Nigeria. He spoke amid ongoing strikes by resident doctors in the country.
According to him, health workers should consider the plight of patients before embarking on any strike, saying they are also “potential patients.”
“Put the patient first and don’t forget the fact that you are a pharmacist, you are a doctor, you are a nurse and you are whatever, you are also a potential patient.
“If a doctor on strike is driving on the road to Ibadan and suddenly has an accident and they rush him to a hospital and the doctors are on strike, what is going to happen?
“It should not be heard of in the healthcare profession that pharmacists are on strike or locked his shop. What happens if somebody needs his service?”
Stressing that pharmacists’ role in the healthcare ecosystem was so important, he said there was the need for greater involvement of pharmacists in the prevention of pandemics as some of the early symptoms could be picked up at the pharmaceutical level.
The PSN President, Mazi Sam Ohuanbunwa, warned against denying Nigerian patients pharmaceutical care.
Represented by the National Secretary, Gbenga Falabi, he noted that pharmacists play a critical role in the prevention and management of any pandemic.
The Lagos chapter chairman, Iyiola Gbolagade, appealed to the governor to lift the suspension imposed on the consultant cadre earlier approved but suspended in the state under former Governor Akinwumi Ambode.
