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Striking health workers under the Joint Health Sector Unions have insisted that only the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure will end their ongoing industrial action, as efforts by the Federal Government to resolve the dispute remain stalled.

The strike, which entered its 82nd day on Wednesday, has paralysed activities in government-owned hospitals across the country, leaving patients stranded and forcing many to seek essential medical services outside public health facilities.

JOHESU, which represents health professionals in pharmacies, laboratories and other support departments, has maintained that the action will continue until the Federal Government implements the report of the Technical Committee on the adjustment of CONHESS, submitted since 2021.

The protracted strike has also triggered a 14-day ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in solidarity with the health workers.

The ultimatum, which expires on Friday, February 6, 2026, warned that other affiliate unions could join the action if the government fails to resolve what labour describes as the “maltreatment” of health workers.

In a joint statement by the Secretary-General of the TUC, Nuhu Toro, and the acting General Secretary of the NLC, Benson Upah, the labour centres accused the Federal Government of deliberately refusing to implement the salary adjustment despite repeated engagements.

They rejected what they described as “the persistent and deliberate provocative refusal of the Federal Government to implement the report of the Technical Committee on the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure.”

According to the unions, the continued delay “is no longer an administrative lapse but a conscious act of injustice, bad faith and institutional disrespect to health workers and organised labour.”

“It is, therefore, unacceptable and a blatant provocation that while the government had no difficulty implementing the adjustment of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure with effect from January 2, 2014, the same government has wilfully refused to implement the same for CONHESS,” the statement read.

Speaking with our correspondent in Abuja on the state of negotiations, the National President of JOHESU, Kabiru Minjibir, said discussions with the government remain deadlocked.

“Negotiations are still deadlocked, and the strike continues. NLC and TUC’s 14-day ultimatum to the government to resolve the issue or have other affiliate unions join in solidarity expires on Friday,” Minjibir said.

He stressed that the union’s demands remain singular and clear.

“We are on strike because of one single demand, which is CONHESS adjustment, as done for the sister scale, CONMESS, in 2014. So, if the government does the needful, we will surely suspend the strike,” he added.

Asked whether the Federal Government had reached out to the union ahead of the ultimatum deadline, Minjibir said, “We have yet to receive any invitation from the government.”

Efforts to get an official response from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare were unsuccessful.

When contacted, the Director of Press at the ministry, Alaba Balogun, said he would revert to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of press time.

The strike is coming at a critical time for the country’s public health system, as cases of Lassa fever continue to rise.

Data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control show that more than 90 cases and 17 deaths were recorded nationwide in the first three weeks of 2026 alone, raising concerns about the impact of the prolonged shutdown of key services in public hospitals.

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By Francesca Hangeior

The Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre has called on governments and key stakeholders to urgently integrate tranexamic acid into standard delivery kits across Nigeria to reduce maternal deaths caused by post-partum haemorrhage.

According to the World Health Organisation, PPH, also known as severe bleeding after childbirth, is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide.

It noted that every year, about 14 million women experience PPH, resulting in about 70,000 deaths globally.

To reduce the incidence of PPH, the WHO in 2017 recommended the early use of intravenous TXA within three hours of birth, alongside standard care, for women diagnosed with PPH after vaginal or caesarean delivery.

WARDC says PPH remains one of the leading causes of maternal death in Nigeria, contributing significantly (almost 25 per cent) to the country’s unacceptably high maternal mortality ratio.

Speaking at a press briefing marking the closing ceremony of the rights group’s 12-month-long community-focused intervention, the Founding Director of WARDC, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, said awareness was insufficient without interventions to ensure lifesaving medicines are readily available where women give birth.

She stressed that tranexamic acid, commonly known as TXA, has been proven to reduce bleeding after childbirth significantly, but remains largely inaccessible to many women due to cost and policy gaps.

“While awareness is critical, awareness alone cannot save lives. For tranexamic acid to truly reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria, system-level action is urgently required,” she said.

In outlining specific demands, Akiyode-Afolabi urged the governments to prioritise public funding and access to the drug across the three healthcare levels.

She said, “Federal and state governments to subsidise and include tranexamic acid in all standard delivery kits in public health facilities, and ensure TXA is consistently available at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care.”

She also called for stronger policy integration and capacity building within the health system to support effective use of the drug.

“Health authorities and regulators to integrate TXA fully into maternal health protocols, emergency obstetric guidelines, and training curricula for healthcare workers. There’s an urgent need to strengthen supply chains so that cost, stock-outs, and access barriers do not continue to cost women their lives,” Akiyode-Afolabi said.

According to her, development partners and donor agencies also have a critical role to play in scaling interventions that have shown measurable impact at the community level.

She said, “Development partners and donors to support scale-up of successful community engagement models like Project TRANSFORM, and invest in sustained advocacy, training, and monitoring to ensure long-term impact.”

She noted that progress in reducing maternal deaths depends on collective responsibility and evidence-driven action.

“When communities are informed, stakeholders collaborate, and evidence guides advocacy, change is possible,” she said.

However, she cautioned that such progress would remain limited without strong political backing and sustained investment.

The WARDC founding director noted, “However, for that change to translate into lives saved, it must be matched with political will, adequate financing, and institutional commitment.”

Akiyode-Afolabi described maternal deaths from post-partum bleeding as unacceptable, given the availability of effective and affordable medical solutions.

“No woman should die while giving birth. No family should lose a mother, daughter, spouse, or sister to a preventable cause.”

She added that denying women access to proven medicines undermines efforts to improve maternal health outcomes nationwide.

“And no proven, affordable medicine like TXA should remain out of reach,” she said.

Akiyode-Afolabi explained that WARDC, with technical and research support from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, had, in the last 10 months, embarked on a community-focused intervention aimed at reducing maternal mortality in Nigeria through improved awareness, access, and advocacy for tranexamic acid.

“Over 20,000 people were reached through physical, community-based engagements, including town hall meetings, grassroots dialogues, engagements at primary healthcare centres, faith-based spaces, and market outreaches,” she said.

Through these efforts, she said Project TRANSFORM contributed to increased awareness, improved community knowledge, and stronger public discourse around preventable maternal deaths and evidence-based solutions.

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By Francesca Hangeior

A Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician, Dr Abosede Lewu, says cryptic pregnancy is a real medical condition but is often misunderstood and exploited by fraudsters.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, a cryptic pregnancy, also known as a stealth pregnancy, is when a woman doesn’t know she’s pregnant.

Lewu, who is also the Chief Medical Director of ORB Women’s Clinic, Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria that cryptic pregnancy referred to a real pregnancy.

She explained that in such cases, a woman would be unaware of her condition until about five months into the pregnancy or beyond and in some cases, women only discovered they were pregnant when they went into labour.

“Cryptic pregnancy is a real pregnancy. The major difference between it and every other pregnancy is awareness.

“The woman is pregnant but does not know,” Lewu said.
According to her, cryptic pregnancy is more likely to occur in women with menstrual irregularities or those who have gone for long periods without menstruation.

She explained that women approaching menopause could also experience cryptic pregnancy, as their menstrual cycles may already be irregular, occurring once in three or six months.

“So, when they become pregnant, they may assume the symptoms they are having are just part of the changes associated with nearing menopause,” she said.

Lewu added that breastfeeding women were also at risk, noting that many new mothers do not resume menstruation until they stop breastfeeding effectively.

“As a result, such women can actually be pregnant without knowing, because they believe their period is yet to return,” she said.

The gynaecologist warned that a cryptic pregnancy had its own dangers because it was usually unplanned, with the woman not preparing for it medically or emotionally.

She also cautioned that some unscrupulous individuals exploited the concept of cryptic pregnancy to scam desperate women trying to conceive.

“Some scammers take advantage of women by claiming to see a pregnancy and continue to pump them with medications to stop their periods.

“When such women visit diagnostic centres for scans, there is usually no evidence of pregnancy, unlike in genuine cryptic pregnancy, where a real pregnancy exists.”

She advised women to be cautious, stressing that if only one person claimed to see a pregnancy, while no independent medical test confirmed it, then it was likely a scam.

“As a woman, if you are working with someone who claims to be helping you get pregnant and only that person can see the pregnancy, then you are being scammed,” she said.

Lewu warned that one of the dangers of receiving care from such scammers was the use of unregulated hormones, which could expose women to severe, life-threatening medical conditions, either immediately or later in life.

She further stressed that there was no secrecy in a genuine cryptic pregnancy and that nobody induces cryptic pregnancy in a woman.

“One way these scammers remain relevant is by forcing women into secrecy.
“The whole experience of the so-called pregnancy and baby delivery is shrouded in secrecy, and the women are discouraged from sharing their experiences,” she said.

Lewu noted that the journey to having children varied from woman to woman and from family to family.

She advised women experiencing delays in achieving pregnancy not to allow desperation to push them into the hands of unqualified persons.

“For women and families facing fertility challenges, it is important to see a qualified gynaecologist for proper evaluation and to explore safe, acceptable and medically sound options to achieve pregnancy,” she said.