S Leone health workers strike

2010-03-19 09:36

Freetown - Health workers in Sierra Leone's capital downed tools Thursday over poor working conditions, and military doctors and nurses stepped in to help at two affected hospitals in Freetown.

Paediatrician David Mbayo, who works at the Princess Christian Mission Hospital maternity facility, said "our plight is appalling".

"I am the only child specialist in the country yet my take home pay is only $200. We are not taking in new patients," he said.

The strike was taking place across the western province of the country.

The striking workers are demanding that a new package for health workers be disclosed to them before April 27, when a free health-care program for children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers will kick off.

Sierra Leone's Deputy President Sam Soumana visited both hospitals in the capital to assess the situation, state radio reported.

"The strike action has created a deplorable situation," he was quoted as saying.

"The package for health workers has been developed by the government and its partners and will be presented to the workers soon. In as much as you are protesting for your welfare, be mindful that you are dealing with lives."

Doctors also went on strike in February over poor working conditions and low salaries in the country whose healthcare system was left in tatters after a decade-long civil war which ended in 2001.

According to official statistics, a junior doctor earns an entry-level salary of around $90 a month and the World Health Organisation estimates there is less than one physician per 10 000 inhabitants.

- AFP