The Association of Resident Doctors, Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, has lamented the poor remuneration of medical personnel in the state-owned tertiary health institutions, adding that 10 of them have been lost to the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
The ARD President, KSSH, Dr Emmanuel Kelvin, in a statement on Friday, said doctors in the state were among the least paid in the country.
According to Kelvin, the non-payment of their outstanding salaries in January 2018, payment of 80 per cent of salaries from April 2020 to date and non-review of their hazard allowances reduced their take-home pay to below 50 per cent, compared to their contemporaries.
He added that the doctors’ salary had been reviewed three times since inception nationwide in 2009, 2014 and 2019, adding that federal and states’ tertiary health institutions implemented the latest 2019 circular.
The ARD president, however, stated that the Kogi State specialist hospital was still paying the doctors the 2009 circular.
He said, “It was clear that in April and May 2020, when we were actively working in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, a large percentage of the state civil servants were at home, yet we were not appreciated enough to be paid our full salaries; rather, we participated in the percentage salary payment.”
“As of today, 10 doctors have lost their lives to COVID-19 nationwide; this is so pathetic. We do not want to be taken by surprise,” he added.