Health workers accuse govt of playing games

Physician Assistants Union of Malawi (Paum) has accused government of playing hide and seek in resolving the issue of health sector allowances, saying there is no official communication to on the allowances increase.

The Department of Human Resource Management and Development (DHRMD), in a letter dated June 24 2024, informed the Ministry of Health that government had approved adjustments for the health sector top up and professional allowance, effective July 1 2024.

The Ministry of Health stamped the letter to confirm receipt of it on June 25 2024.

But in separate interviews yesterday, Paum  and National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (Nonm) said the ministry is yet to write the health workers on the increase in allowances.

Paum president Solomon Chomba said they have just seen a document circulating on social media that government had increased some of the allowances.

He said: “After seeing the document on social media, we reached out to the ministry of Health to ask them to confirm the adjustments, but there has been no response.

“It is now five days without any response from the ministry.

“The Ministry of Health is our contact point, yet they are not coming forward to confirm.”

Chomba suspected that the document was leaked to portray that government is doing something about the demands of the health workers.

Paum has since reiterated that its membership is not comfortable with the allowances that were indicated to have been increased, saying they are not addressing the demands of the health workers and what was in the conciliation agreement.

Chomba added that the increase in top up allowance will only benefit those in high positions.

He said: “You also wonder why the allowances in that document have been approved without going to Parliament. The ones that were in the conciliation agreement, they said there was need to involve Parliament. So has Parliament approved the ones they are offering?

“The allowances they have approved will mostly benefit those in high positions and not those who are at risk in the profession.”

Chomba emphasised that the health workers want the risk allowance to be increased per the conciliation agreement.

If increased, the risk allowance will see the lower grades getting K150 000 per month while those in high positions getting less.

Said the Paum leader: “We also want locum to be increased from K3700 to  K60 000 per night and K40 000 for the day shift; the professional allowance for grade L and others to be increased to at least K30 000 per month and not the K4 000 that has been indicated in the leaked document.

“The hardship allowance should also be increased from K15 000 to K100 000 to motivate health workers to work in rural areas. Having more health workers in rural areas will  improve quality of health services in rural areas.”

Nonm executive director  Peter Mvuma also confirmed that Nonm is yet to get a communication from government on the increase of the health sector allowances.

“They are the ones to write us. We don’t need to ask them. We are not pleading with anyone. It is them who should write us,” he said.

But when contacted, Ministry of Health spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe said the ministry has written Paum and Nonm  on the matter, adding the two will get the communication within the week.

“Government is a system. There are processes that are followed but we have written them,” he said.

Chikumbe added that government has taken note of the concerns on the locum, risk allowance and hardship allowances.

“Government has committed to review the allowances from time to time,” he said.

On June 10, health workers staged a nationwide sit-in to force government to increase the health sector allowances.

The sit-in paralysed various health services as the skeleton staff that was put in place only attended to emergencies.

Government got an injunction to restrain the health workers from holding the strike.