The Nigeria Medical Association says it cannot disrupt health services in Enugu State, following the strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors over increased remuneration.

The association also commended Governor Peter Mbah for motivating healthcare workers in the state with improved pay.

The Chairman of NMA, Enugu State, Dr. Sunday Okafor, disclosed this during a press conference on the 2025 Physicians’ Week and maiden Enugu South-East Regional Health Summit in Enugu on Monday.

According to Okafor, doctors in the state, under Governor Mbah, are among the best-paid healthcare workers in the country in terms of remuneration for medical personnel.

He said health workers owed gratitude to the Governor, whose vision and commitment to improving efficiency across the public health system and public service has been remarkable.

Okafor therefore called on the Federal Government and other governors to emulate Mbah by prioritising the welfare of health workers to improve service delivery and prevent frequent strikes by NARD members.

He justified the NMA’s decision not to strike in Enugu State: “It is on record that in the country, Enugu healthcare personnel are the highest paid, and as a parent body, we cannot disrupt health services in those areas where the governor is actually doing well.”

He clarified why doctors in federal institutions were allowed to strike: “We allowed resident doctors in the federal hospitals in the state to embark on strike because Mbah is motivating state health workers.”

He further confirmed the core reason for not joining the strike at the state level: “The issue of the strike is poor remuneration and welfare, so we don’t have issues with the Enugu State Government in terms of remuneration and welfare,” he said.

He emphasised the need for the Federal Government to resolve the issue with resident doctors so they could attend to their teeming patients, noting that shutting down the healthcare system would disrupt social services and cause suffering for patients.

Okafor also commended Mbah for investing in healthcare infrastructure by improving primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals in the state.

He highlighted a specific infrastructural investment: “The governor is building Type Two Primary Health Centres across 260 electoral wards in Enugu State, and each of them is being operationalised.”

He confirmed the NMA’s collaboration with the state government, stating: “NMA Enugu State has continued to partner with the government because when you see the vision of the leader, you complement his efforts,” he said.

Speaking on the theme “Healthcare as a Value Chain – Building Efficiency from Policy to Patients” for the physicians’ week, Dr. Okafor called for patient-centred policies to address health inequalities.

He announced the association’s new initiative: “So we have decided, for the first time in our history, to have a regional health summit where the various heads of our health systems in the South-East will share what they have done to improve the healthcare system,” he said.