Payment of hazard and inducement allowance to Nigerian health workers on the frontline of the battle against the Coronavirus pandemic will begin this week, the Federal Government has said.
It said the health workers will receive two months’ pay for April and May before the close of work on Thursday.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, broke the news in Abuja after a meeting with the leadership of health professionals.
Ngige was accompanied at the meeting by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN); the Accountant General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed and the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora.
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The health workers were represented by the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).
The government, in April, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with health professional associations and unions for health workers on the frontline of the battle against the pandemic to get special incentives, including hazard allowance, insurance and tax rebates.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm and shaken the health systems worldwide. Nations that apparently had advanced and sophisticated health systems have struggled to deal with this pandemic.
Current morbidity and mortality figures show that the High Income Countries, HIC, have been hit the most by this pandemic, with some national death count in the tens of thousands, especially among the aged, frail and those with co-morbid conditions.
Nigeria has also reported a high number of COVID-19 cases, especially in the metropolitan areas, but nowhere near the figures coming from many developed societies.
Several reasons have been postulated for the relatively lower numbers in Nigeria, including climate and demographic factors. It’s pertinent to state that our understanding of this pandemic is still evolving.
Before COVID-19, there have been previous epidemics in the past in Nigeria, including epidemics of Ebola, Lassa fever and other viral diseases but not much have been learnt and opportunities for massive rejig of the system have been missed.
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