The Kano State chapter of the National Association of Government General and Medical Dental Practitioners has chosen October 1 to begin an indefinite strike due to unfavourable working conditions and unpaid allowances owed by the state government.

The doctors had a meeting with the state government over some unpaid post-COVID-19 allowances but got no positive result.

Speaking with journalists on the outcome of the doctors’ association meeting with the Kano government on Saturday, Anas Hassan, the secretary of the doctors’ association, said that the doctors had a prior agreement with the government in June but their demands were yet to be met.

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Anas said that doctors who were employed by the state government in 2023 had not been paid their salaries.

He also said that the doctor-to-patient ratio in Kano was significantly lower than the recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Anas estimated that there were up to 20 million Kano residents with only 600 doctors.

In other words, the state’s doctor-patient ratio is one doctor to 33,000 residents.

Anas also stressed that some other reasons for the indefinite strike included the failed state of the hospitals and the lack of necessary medical equipment in the state.

If the Kano doctors go ahead with the state-wide strike, it would coincide with a planned nationwide protest against bad governance.