Dr Hardi Abdullah, former President of Junior Doctors’ Association says he is disappointed about the manner in which government and the media have handled the strike by doctors. He said by their conduct, the government and the media were treating the problems of striking doctors as a media war but stated that doctors by their training are noble and thus will not engage anyone in that war. Dr Abdullah, speaking in an interview with Adom FM’s Adakabre Frimpong-Manso Friday, was responding to reports in the Daily Graphic newspaper which suggested that doctors had rejected offers of between GH¢4,200 and GH¢4,800 from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, claiming they wanted forty per cent more of the offer. The Ghana Medical Association disputed the claims. Dr Abdullah, obviously disturbed about the claims in the publication, accused government of trying to use the state media to incite the public against doctors and expose them to the activities of armed robbers. He claimed that the doctors’ demands had nothing to do with salary increase but the principle of job evaluation. “So this matter is not about money, so the Graphic publication is just to deviate or to make sure that the public minds is disabused and incite the public against the doctors; that will not wash…” He revealed that doctors have no conditions of service, they pay for their own rent, medical bills and buy their petrol unlike other public sector workers, including politicians. He added that “doctors are people who care for their patients, our patients come first and all these years without conditions of service we’ve served our people.” Dr Abdullah said he wasn’t much surprised at the current situation because “We live in a continent, which is one of the few continents in the world where politicians are paid more than doctors [and] where knowledge and academics [are] not respected.” “We rather claim that experience is better than knowledge…” The medical doctor asked the government and the FWSC to solve the problems and stop appealing to striking doctors to return. “Do we think all doctors in this country are, excuse me to say, stupid and callous and charlatans as people…want to refer us?” he asked.