At a Maputo press conference held by the League of Non-Governmental Organisations in Mozambique (Joint), the spokesperson for the group, Albino Forquilha, said that civil society bodies were willing to help the two parties to the dispute find a way out. The question, he said, was not to allocate blame for the strike, but to seek mechanisms for solving the concerns that led to the strike.
“Our main concern is the stagnation of the National Health Service”, said Forquilha. “We cannot allow people to be sacrificed just because the government and the doctors do not understand each other”.
As for the government’s description of the AMM strike as “illegal”, he said that dialogue should always be the path followed in any dispute, recalling that dialogue had ended the first doctors’ strike in January, resulting in a memorandum of understanding between the Health Ministry and the AMM. “This is not the time to discuss whether the strike is legal or not”, Forquilha stressed. “The gravity of the situation forces us simply to seek for solutions. This involves humility on both sides in order to facilitate dialogue”.
Luis Mazoio, spokesperson of the main Mozambican trade union federation, the OTM, said “if we want to help solve the problem we must avoid taking positions in favour of one or the other side. We must together seek a solution that can help end the strike by health professionals”.
Asked about the threats to sack the striking doctors and other health workers, Mazoio warned that any dismissals would have to be based on the country’s labour legislation.
Also on Wednesday strikers in the northern city of Nampula marched through the streets to publicise their demands (which include a call for a rise of 100 pent in doctors’ basic wages). The local AMM representative, Ana Rosa, who is a paediatrician in the Nampula Central Hospital, said the march was another means of bringing pressure to bear on the government to solve health workers’ problems. She said that, as long as no consensus is reached between the government and the AMM, the strike will continue in Nampula.
The strike is having a serious impact on the Nampula Central Hospital. According to the Provincial Governor, Cidalia Chauque, 20 of the 48 Mozambican doctors in the hospital are on strike.
Post published in: Africa News