Intern doctors call off strike

KAMPALA. Medical interns have called off their sit-down strike after receiving their monthly allowances and arrears from government.

More than 900 medical interns in public hospitals across the country went on strike over delayed allowances and chronic lack of medical supplies at the end of last month.

In an interview, Dr Robert Lubega, the President of Medical interns 2017-2018 told this reporter on Monday that 85 per cent of the medical interns had received their allowances for March, April and May.

“We have decided to call off the strike today after our allowances were paid in most internship sites. Over 80 per cent of the interns have received their salaries for March, April and those at Mulago hospital have even been paid for May,” Dr Lubega said.

However, Dr Lubega said medical interns working in seven internship training sites had not received their allowances due to payments delays by hospital administrations.
“After recent engagements with interns at 35 internship hospitals, we found out that majority of the interns had received money on individual accounts except in the hospitals of; Soroti, Entebbe, Masaka, Hoima, Lyantonde and Nsambya,” Dr Lubega said.

However, he said that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of medical interns was going to continue pressurising the hospitals to pay their counterparts who have not received any allowances.
Quoting a letter from the Health ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwine, the interns’ president said that all the allowances had been disbursed to the hospitals.

According to the ministerial policy statement, intern doctors currently earn a monthly allowance of Shs950, 000.
Following a doctors’ strike lead by the Uganda Medical Association, medical interns are demanding an internship policy from government which seeks to address, among other things accommodation and feeding for the interns.

[email protected]