Nigerian Nurses, under the auspices of the Forum for Local Government Nurses and Midwives, FOLGONM, have blamed governments in the country for the unrest in the health sector, saying they have never exhibited sincerity in their dealings with health workers.

The National Chairman of FOLGONM, Obafemi Agbede, stated this in Akure, the Ondo State capital, during the body’s annual national scientific workshop with the theme: “National Security: Implication on Health Care Delivery in Nigeria.”

Agbede, who noted that the incessant crisis within the sector was as a result of government inability to fulfill and honour most of the agreement reached with the group, said the body will no longer accept such attitude.

He said the action usually affects the health sector and the people of the country saying such action was inimical to the overall growth of the sector.

Agbede said, “Government should be bold enough to call all existing groups in the sector and do panel negotiations with us to end this seeming intractable series of strikes occasioned by the current approach of negotiating with individual groups in the sector instead of a collective approach since we all operate in the same sector and are equally affected by the same issue.”

The forum however expressed concerns over the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, and commended the Federal Government over the introduction of insurance scheme for all health workers.

He urged government to accelerate action on the take off of the new policy so that it would not be a mirage like all other policy introduced by government that never sees the light of the day.

Also speaking, the Ondo State chairman of the forum, Foluso Awe, asked the state government to employ more nurses, saying there was shortage of nurses in the state.

He said if the quest for the attainment of MDGs 4, 5 and 6 are to be achieved, there was an urgent need for more nurses and midwives to be employed

He lamented that the total number of midwives across the18 local government areas of the state was 210, saying that the figure was far lower than the required 1, 015 needed across the state.