Mozambique: Health workers extend strike for a further 30 days

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Mozambique: Health workers extend strike for a further 30 days

2:48 CAT | 27 May 2024

in file CoM

Mozambican health professionals today announced the extension of their strike for a further 30 days due to the lack of consensus in negotiations, accusing the government of “intensifying threats” to the class.

“Talks are taking place with the government, but the iron arm prevails, as it insists on not presenting concrete guarantees as to when it will comply with the June and August 2023 agreements signed during negotiations,” Secretary General of the Association of United and Solidary Health Professionals of Mozambique (APSUSM), Sheila Chuquela, told a press conference in Maputo.

At issue is a strike called almost a month ago by APSUSM, which covers around 65,000 health professionals from different departments of the National Health System, with the exception of doctors.

Chuquela said that the class wanted the government to present deadlines for compliance with agreements already reached during negotiations, especially with regard to the provision of hospital medical supplies and improvement of workers’ conditions.

The official again accused the government of intensifying threats to health professionals, resorting to arbitrary transfers to more distant health units.

“We can prove our distrust regarding the government’s willingness to comply with the agreements with APSUSM as it continues to abuse professionals with arbitrary transfers to locations far from their current work areas,” she stated.

The general secretary of APSUSM also accused the government of continuing to “neglect” the health of Mozambicans, by “using completely unprepared students” to attend to users seeking health care.

“As can be seen, these are manoeuvres by those who do not want to effectively solve the problems in the national health system and refuse to take the issues presented seriously simply so as not to solve the problems and exhaust the health profession,” she added.

More than 50,000 healthcare professionals joined the strike that began on April 29, the association previously announced.

The resumption of strike action had been scheduled for March 28, but it was suspended a day before following talks with the Mozambican government that culminated in the fulfilment of some points of the demand, such as the qualification of health professionals, monitoring visits to hospital units and the resolution of irregularities in the payment of subsidies, APSUSM said at the time.

Almost 30 days after the suspension of the strike, Mozambican health professionals once again complained about non-compliance and failure to carry out “monitoring visits” regarding compliance with agreements between the parties, saying that hospitals “are worse than at the beginning of the dialogue”.

Among other aspects, APSUSM requires the government to provide medicines, which in some cases have to be purchased by patients themselves, to acquire hospital beds, resolve the food supply problem, and equip ambulances with emergency materials and non-disposable personal protective equipment, the lack of which is “forcing employees to buy [them] out of their own pockets”.

Source: Lusa