Federal Government has been advised to absorb staff of the various National Blood Transfusion Service Centres in the country laid off following donor agencies withdrawal of their sponsorship.
The call was made by stakeholders in Lokoja yesterday while speaking with journalists.
They said that due to the withdrawal of sponsorship of the centres by donor agencies, core medical and health personnel were relieved of their jobs.
A stakeholder, Mr. Friday Ogungbemi, who was the 2015 highest blood donor at the Lokoja service centre, explained that there was need for the Federal Government to absorb the personnel into the mainstream of the Federal Civil Service.
According to him, this is in view of the importance of the centres to primary and secondary healthcare delivery in making safe blood available and accessible to patients at “no serious costs” and their lifesaving capacities. One of the affected personnel, Mrs. Erlinda Umoru, Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist, stated that the workers were recruited by the Centre for Disease Control in conjunction with the Presidential Emergency Plan for Aids Relief.
Umoru pointed out that they were recruited for periods ranging between seven and 12 years and subject to annual review within the period until recently when the agencies notified the Federal Government of the intention to withdraw their sponsorship.
“The agencies notified government that with effect from December 31, 2015, they would withdraw their sponsorship and services and asked government to take over.
“They also said that government’s failure to formally take over the facilities would lead to disengagement of the workers and that is what has happened now. We are appealing to government to take over the centre and absorb us”, she said.
The Coordinator for Lokoja Centre, Dr Steven Uwodi, noted that the centre could no longer perform its primary function of taking blood even as donors approach the centre daily since professionals for the job had been disengaged.
Uwodi joined other stakeholders to appeal to the Federal Government to fully take over the centre and provide for its manpower requirements rather than allow it to fizzle out of the system.
Speaking in same vein Mr Abdul Miliki, Executive Director of Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, CHRCR, said the centres were too important to be neglected and urged the Federal Government to take them over with all their assets and liabilities.
Miliki said the Health Management Boards, HMB, of the various states could in the interim, take over the centres and pay their personnel to ensure the sustenance their services awaiting Federal Government intervention.
By: Wale Ibrahim
National Mirror News
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