Patients can't access care, workers can't afford to work

Pregnant woman goes into labour. Rushes to general hospital. Gate locked. Staff striking.

She diverts to teaching hospital. Also closed. Strike nationwide.

Private hospital charges ₦200,000 for delivery. She doesn't have ₦200,000. Goes to traditional birth attendant. Complications develop. Baby dies.

This is healthcare strike in practical terms. Not abstract labour dispute. Deaths from inaccessible care.

Health workers' strike has shut hospitals across multiple states. Not selective strike—emergency rooms closed. Intensive care units unstaffed. Operating theatres empty.

Total shutdown.

Patients face immediate crisis. Diabetic needs insulin refill—pharmacy closed. Hypertensive requires monitoring—clinic shut. Child spikes dangerous fever—paediatrics unstaffed.

These scenarios multiply when healthcare workers strike. Medical needs don't pause for labour disputes. Illness continues. Emergencies happen. Chronic conditions progress.

But service stops completely.

This reveals system fragility. No backup staffing. No emergency protocols. No skeleton crew agreements. When workers strike, everything halts.

Health workers strike because negotiations failed. Specific demands: salaries matching inflation, hazard allowances unpaid for six months, equipment so inadequate staff buy supplies personally, working conditions dangerous.

Not frivolous requests. Healthcare work carries risks—infectious diseases, violence from frustrated relatives, impossible patient loads, inadequate protection.

Compensation should reflect these hazards. Instead: wages eroded by inflation, promised allowances unpaid, staff paying for gloves and syringes, facilities crumbling around them.

Workers negotiated. Promises followed. Promises unkept. Workers strike.

For patients, strike creates life-or-death situations. Government and unions dispute wages. Patients need healthcare now. Baby doesn't wait for negotiation settlement. Heart attack doesn't pause for labour arbitration.

But hospitals close anyway.

This is the system design flaw. Healthcare entirely dependent on workers showing up. No contingency. No alternatives. Just shutdown when disputes arise.

Some countries maintain essential services during healthcare strikes. Emergency departments stay open. Intensive care continues. Life-threatening conditions get treated. Non-urgent care postpones.

Nigeria's healthcare strikes mean total closure. Workers leave. Facilities lock. All patients turned away regardless of urgency.

This impossible position: patients didn't cause wage disputes. Can't resolve labour conflicts. But carry strike's consequences—delayed treatment, worsened conditions, preventable deaths.

Government response follows predictable pattern. Condemn strike as illegal. Threaten "no work, no pay." Eventually negotiate partial concessions. Strike ends. Root problems persist until next strike.

What's missing: proactive resolution before strikes become necessary. Regular wage reviews. Timely allowance payments. Equipment procurement. Facility maintenance.

Basic workforce management. Pay workers adequately. Provide necessary tools. Maintain safe environments.

Government fails these basics. Workers strike. Patients die.

The current strike grounds hospitals. Previous strikes did same. Future strikes will repeat pattern until government addresses causes rather than just ending each strike temporarily.

For that pregnant woman whose baby died because hospitals were closed—labour dispute resolution came too late. For diabetic who missed insulin and went into crisis—negotiations settled after damage occurred. For child whose fever progressed to complications—strike ended after emergency passed.

Healthcare access shouldn't depend on whether workers are striking. But in Nigeria's system, it does.

When healthcare stops, citizens with money go private or abroad. Citizens without money suffer untreated.

That's not healthcare. That's lottery.