The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State branch, has announced its support for the ongoing nationwide strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) as the action entered its seventh day last Friday, with shut down of care services experienced at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idiaraba, Lagos.

The Lagos NMA blamed the Federal Government for neglecting doctors’ welfare, delaying arrears, and allowing leadership to weaken the healthcare system.

Speaking yesterday during a press briefing in Lagos, NMA Lagos Chairman, Dr Babajide Saheed, said doctors could no longer remain silent.

He said: “The government’s refusal to meet NARD’s nineteen-point demands and the failure of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare to engage with NARD leadership within the stipulated period is a clear act of negligence.”

Meanwhile, New Telegraph investigations in LUTH yesterday revealed that the resident doctors in LUTH complied totally with the strike directive from the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD). The provision of care services in the tertiary hospital was paralysed.