Adewole: Why Pay Parity Between Doctors, Other Health Workers is Untenable •Insists no work, no pay policy is automatic, legal

The ongoing industrial action by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) may not end anytime soon as the parties involved are not shifting their positions with Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, insisting that there can never be pay parity between the Nigerian doctors and other health workers.

Media findings on Wednesday revealed that the JOHESU's demand for pay rise and salary adjustment reflects exactly the amount currently earned by the counterparts within the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

A document obtained by the media containing the proposed Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) from level 09 to Level 15 revealed that is at par with the revised Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) from entry-level 01 to the apex level 07.

While the CONMESS level 1:1 for doctors starts with annual salary figure of N1, 316, 488 and peaks at level 7:9 at N7,708, 500, the proposed CONHESS mirrored exactly the same amount with level 9:1 of N1, 316, 488 and peaked at level 15:9 at N7,708, 500.

But Adewole, in an interview on the issue, reminded the protesting health workers that one of the cardinal demands for salary review looks like a quest for parity with the doctors, which according to him, is not attainable anywhere in the world.

He noted that while the federal government is willing to consider the salary adjustment, but that throughout Nigerian history, there has never been a period where the doctors received the same salary as other health workers.

 "One thing is clear, we will never support parity, and I think we should put that up-front. There has never been any time in the history of this country when there was parity, and we will never support parity.

"We will be willing to support adjustment, but we will never support parity because, it has never happened before independence, after independence till date, there has never been parity between doctor and non-doctors," he declared.

Speaking on the ongoing JOHESU strike, the minister said efforts are being made to end the industrial action as ongoing negotiations to resolve the issues are being handled by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

"The strike would end soon. We are addressing it comprehensively. There are quite a number of funny issues, and we want to make sure that we handle it comprehensively. We don’t want to end the strike only to face another one so we are looking at it comprehensively and in totality," he stated.

Adewole, while dismissing the allegations of discrimination and acts of intimidation against JOHESU members, cautioned that the policy of "no work, no pay" is legally binding and hence, automatic and beyond him.