MALAWI DOCTORS REACT TO NEW RISK ALLOWANCES

Lilongwe, MALAWI

Doctors have argued that their demands for an upward adjustment of their risk allowances are not limited to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Medical Doctors Union of Malawi president, Collins Mitambo, was reacting to an announcement by the government that it has increased the risk allowances from a minimum of K1,000 ($1.36) to a maximum of K60,000 ($81.65).

The announcement by the Ministry of Health stated that the new rates will be applicable during the period Malawi is grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic.

It came at a time health workers in various facilities have been staging sit-ins to force the government to improve their working conditions, provide them with personal protective equipment and raise their risk allowances, among others.

But in his response to the circular Tuesday, Mitambo said medical practitioners in the country are not happy with the government’s decision to limit the increment to the Covid-19 period.

“The issue to do with our risk allowances goes back to the year 2000 and it is wrong to limit it to Covid-19 because for a long time, practitioners have been facing the risk of contracting various other diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, cholera and hepatitis,” Mitambo said.

According to the Ministry of Health, Malawi has recorded 17 Covid-19 cases out of which two have died while three others have been certified as recovered.

The government has been announcing tough measures to contain the spread of the virus but the sin-ins by health workers is feared to have the potential of undermining the efforts. - Africa