Health
UK doctors on five-day strike, shun PM’s plea
Starmer on Friday appealed to the doctors, saying patients were being put at risk and the strikes would “cause real damage”.
(AFP)
• Uk doctors on strike / AFP
Thousands of UK doctors launched a five-day strike early Friday after talks with the Labour government for a new pay increase failed to reach a deal.
Doctors were out on picket lines outside hospitals after negotiations with the government went down the wire late Thursday, without reaching an accord.
The move comes after the doctors accepted a pay rise offer totalling 22.3 per cent over two years in September, soon after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party took power.
Resident doctors — those below consultant level — have said they felt they had “no choice” but to strike again to reverse “pay erosion” since 2008.
Starmer on Friday appealed to the doctors, saying patients were being put at risk and the strikes would “cause real damage”.
Launching a strike “will mean everyone loses,” Starmer wrote in the Times, highlighting the added strain it would put on the already struggling National Health Service (NHS).
He appealed to the doctors not to “follow” their union, the British Medical Association (BMA) “down this damaging road.
“Our NHS and your patients need you, ” Starmer warned.” Lives will be blighted by this decision,” Starmer warned.
Health
NCDC : Rainy Season To Increase Cholera Outbreaks in Ten States
They are Adamawa, Enugu, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba, and Kwara.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says that raining and flooding will increase cholera outbreak in ten prone states.
They are Adamawa, Enugu, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba, and Kwara.
NCDC, in a statement, yesterday, said the alarm followed flood predictions issued by the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency indicating that the aforementioned states would experience heavy rainfall and flooding between 13th and 17th April 2026.
NCDC noted that, already, cases of cholera are on the rise across the cholera-prone states, and that could simply be attributed to the rainy season, and flood that might have contaminated people’s sources of food and water.
It said: “Recent national surveillance data show increasing cholera activity across multiple states.
Flooding during this period can rapidly increase the risk of disease outbreaks due to contamination of drinking water sources, disruption of sanitation systems, and increased exposure of communities to unsafe environmental conditions.
Importantly, these risks are preventable with early action.”
Health
FG effects 20% tarrif slash on pharmaceutical products
Reacting to the development, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ayuba-Tanko Ibrahim, described the tariff cut as a positive step but cautioned that the gains would depend on complementary policy actions.
the Federal Government had in a document dated April 1, 2026, by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, approved sweeping tariff adjustments across 127 product lines, including antimalarial medicaments now pegged at 20 percent, as part of efforts to stimulate growth and ease the cost of critical imports.
Reacting to the development, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ayuba-Tanko Ibrahim, described the tariff cut as a positive step but cautioned that the gains would depend on complementary policy actions.
“A drop in duties on drugs and pharmaceutical products is quite laudable. In normal circumstances, this should signpost a drop in prices of these products and promote accessibility to drugs and healthcare, albeit legitimately.
“The PSN appreciates and commends the commitment of the federal government in the ensuing scenario,” he said.
Emphasising that more is needed to be done to sanitise the sector, Ibrahim said: “It is noteworthy that the federal government must do a little more in terms of regulation and control of drug matters in Nigeria.
‘’Government must see a need for urgent intervention with a template akin to an all-purpose special vehicle that can help fix fundamental issues pertaining to local manufacture and drug prices.
” There is also a need to support local content in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, APIs, and vaccines availability to increase the contribution of the pharmaceutical sector to national GDP, ’’ he said.
Health
Resident Doctors Suspend Strike, Ask Members to Resume on Wednesday
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its planned indefinite nationwide strike and directed all members to resume duties on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
The decision was announced on Tuesday following successful last-minute engagements with the Federal Government and other stakeholders over the contentious suspension of the Professional Allowance Table (PAT) and other welfare issues.
NARD had earlier declared a total and comprehensive strike effective from 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7, protesting the government’s move to halt implementation of the revised allowance structure, unpaid promotion arrears, and other outstanding agreements.
In a statement, the association said the suspension was reached after productive discussions, though it issued a fresh ultimatum, warning of renewed industrial action if demands are not fully met by April 21, 2026.
Patients and healthcare facilities across the country, which had braced for disruption in services, are expected to see normal operations resume from Wednesday morning.
NARD urged its members to return to work promptly while maintaining that the core issues remain unresolved and will be reviewed at the next National Executive Council meeting.
The development brings temporary relief to the public health system amid ongoing concerns over doctor shortages and welfare in Nigerian teaching and specialist hospitals.
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