Medical workers’ strike: Address the shortfalls

Medical workers have threatened to lay down their tools come May 1 if government fails to raise their salary to the expected level and reabsorb more than 700 Covid-19 medical workers who were recently fired.
Moreover, in a story which this newspaper published on Friday, the country is grappling with a shortfall of 19,741 health workers to fill the service gap in hospitals.
There are 57,207 health workers, who are less than the required 76,948, according to the 2020/2021 Health Sector Performance Report. 
Uganda Medical Association (UMA) has linked the shortage to long hours Ugandans are waiting to access services and poor quality of care due to work overload for the few who are working. Laying down tools will exacerbate these problems.
Government should prioritise health system through improved resource allocation and ensure the service gaps are filled and medical workers are closely monitored to ensure Ugandans get quality care in the facilities. 
UMA president, Dr Samuel Oledo, said the increments reflected for the medical officer special grade (specialist) level up to the senior consultants in the salary structure which government has released for Financial Year 2022/2023 is not in line with the presidential directive which ordered a minimum of Shs5 million for the entry-level medical officer and a salary of Shs20m per month for a senior consultant.
According to UMA, the President had promised that a senior consultant should be getting Shs20m per month, up from Shs7.3m they are currently getting. But UMA said the new salary scale indicates that the payment for these critical staff was only increased from Shs7.3m to Shs8.7m.
Consultants are getting Shs6m but they will get Shs7.5m next Financial Year, medical officers (special grade) are currently getting Shs4.5m and will get Shs5.2m. Senior medical officers, who are currently getting Shs3.3m, will get Shs5.1m, while medical officers, dental surgeons and pharmacists, who are currently paid Shs3m, will start getting Shs5m.
State minister for Health in-charge of General Duties, Ms Anifa Kawooya, in the Friday story asked the medical workers to be patient as government looks for resources to fulfil the promises. 
It is important that government sits with the medical workers and negotiates how best to handle its concerns while ensuring that the country does not lose the best brains to foreign countries because of meagre pay.
Asking more than 700 medical workers who are qualified to stay home is not acceptable given the service gaps in hospitals which continue to affect patients and cost lives.
Government should work out a modality to reabsorb these medical staff and also ensure the 19,000 medical workers needed in hospitals are recruited.