admin
More than 400 health workers at one of Sierra Leone’s few Ebola treatment centres have embarked on a strike over unpaid risk allowances the government is meant to provide, officials said, although some of them returned to work later in the day.
A representative for the striking healthcare workers said that about a quarter of them returned to work later yesterday to the only Ebola clinic in south Sierra Leone after health officials pledged to pay the allowance later this week.
“We decided to allow one quarter of our workforce to return to the centre to work to support people who are admitted there,” said Mohamed Mbawah.
A full-scale strike would resume if the payments were not made by Friday, he said.
Earlier in the day an ambulance was turned away with a patient because of the walkout. He said the allowances had not been paid since September.
The clinic in Bandajuma in Bo district has about 60 beds for Ebola patients – about a fifth of Sierra Leone’s total Ebola beds – and UN officials warn that the number of Ebola cases is surging in Sierra Leone due to a lack of treatment centres. . – Al Jazeera
Online Reporter