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The National Foot Soldiers Association (NAFSAG) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC ) has appealed to the striking doctors to resume work to save lives while they negotiate with the government for better conditions of service.

This is because many patients are dying in health facilities across the country because of the absence of doctors from the facilities.

Taxpayers

The National President of the Association, Mr William Kwasi Ahamazie, said taxpayers whose money was used to pay the doctors were those dying.

He explained that the striking doctors would not be fulfilling their call and following the code of ethics of their profession if they stood by and allowed the vulnerable to die.

He stressed that doctors should realise that they were trained to save lives while politicians ran for elections to serve the country for specific periods.

He said doctors could stay at their jobs for more than 20 or 30 years while politicians had specific time to serve the country.
Comparison

Mr Ahamazie, therefore, urged those who compared the work of politicians to doctors to stop, since it was causing unnecessary rivalry between the two different professions.

He explained that politicians stood for elections to formulate policies and laws for development, while the doctors were trained to save lives.

The president of the foot soldiers said the doctors’ refusal to return to work could compel governments to pass a law to outlaw strikes in essential services.
Long term

In the long term, Mr Ahamazie appealed to the government to make Ghana the hub for training professionals such as doctors, engineers and architects to serve the country and beyond.

He noted that it would help earn more foreign exchange to support the health sector and other sectors of the economy.
Surprising

He said it was surprising that with all the news of people dying in the health facilities because of the doctors’ strike, the Christian Council and other churches had not uttered a word, let alone put pressure on the doctors and government to find an amicable solution to the impasse, for doctors to return to work.

He, therefore, appealed to the Christian Council to advise the doctors to return to work to fulfil their God-given task to save lives.
Mr Ahamazie said it was sad to lose a loved one, especially a wife, mother or father, since it created a big vacuum in the family.