By Mike Adeyemi
Following the recent calling off of strike embarked upon by health workers across the country under the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), the industrial action which lasted about six weeks was said to have claimed some casualties in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, National Pilot reports.
One of such casualties is a 57-year-old woman, Mrs. Aminat Isiaq Akeyede who lost her battle to stroke amidst the recent strike.
Mrs Akeyede, who was a food vendor, had been down with stroke for two years and could not afford medical care, until the wife of the Kwara State Deputy Governor, Mrs Felicia Kisira came to her aid.
The wife of the deputy governor through her foundation foot the hospital bills of Mrs Akeyede who was on admission at the General Hospital, Ilorin until government hospitals went on strike almost two months ago.
Following the industrial action and with no health workers to attend to the woman, the family was asked to relocate her.
About five weeks after getting home, Mrs Akeyede was pronounced dead 7am on Monday just three days after the health workers called off their strike.
Speaking with this medium on the incidence, husband of the deceased, Alhaji Akeyede Isiaq said perhaps his wife may have survived the illness but for the health workers’ strike which paralysed activities at government hospitals.
“We want to use this medium to thank concerned Kwarans who stood up for the family when our beloved had battle with stroke,” he said.
In the same vein, her first son, Tunde Akeyede said, “She has been battling stroke for the past two years. At a stage she was responding to treatment not until her condition worsened and we sought further treatment at the General hospital, Ilorin. But our hope was dashed when the hospital management asked us to evacuate her from the facility.”
Meanwhile, normalcy has returned to hospitals across the metropolis following the suspension of the six weeks old strike by JOHESU.
At the General hospital, Ilorin and the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, nurses and other health workers were noticed yesterday attending to patients on their sick beds in various wards.
Speaking on the development, the Chief Medical Director of General hospital, Ilorin, Prof. Abdulfatah Olokoba expressed his delight over the resumption of health workers.
“Nobody is happy with the strike, health sector is a fragile one that once you have a disruption of services, it usually lead to loss of lives unfortunately, any life lost cannot be recovered.”
Olokoba said throughout the six-week strike, health delivery services went through skeletal process even as he admitted that they still keep their in-house services going.
On the number of casualties during the period, the CMD said it difficult to quantify the lives lost.
He however appealed to Kwarans for the disruption in health service delivery in the state while urging the state government to put mechanism in place to avert re-occurrence of the strike.
