Medical interns have resumed their strike decrying non payment of their allowances and the failure by government to provide the required medical supplies. The intern doctors announced on Wednesday morning that they have laid down their tools effective today until government pays their arrears as well as improve their working conditions.
They say that despite commitments made by government late last year during the doctors’ nationwide strike which lasted three weeks, these pledges have not been honoured.
Out of 970 interns that are spread across 35 health facilities in Uganda, majority have not received their January allowances while a total of 61 have not been paid allowances for a period of three months.
An intern doctors is paid a gross allowance of Shs 960,000 per month which is reduced to Shs 756,000 after taxes. Meagre as this is, they are concerned that the central government still can not release it in time.
Robert Lubega, the President of the Uganda Medical Interns told the press at Mulago Hospital that as a result of non payment, interns work under conditions of deprivation, unable to pay for accommodation, food and transport.
“We have laid down our tools today as we await government response towards our plight. We shall be glad to engage with various stakeholders for improved welfare,” Lubega said.
“Since our last engagement with government while we were on strike, 85% of us had their allowances paid promptly for November and December. But Hospital Directors have no money to give the interns and the Ministry of Health remains silent”.
Lubega noted that the interns work in risky conditions where they lack basic requirements as gloves yet they deal with cases of maternity and injuries.
Interns are the first point of contact for patients seeking maternity, casualty and pediatric treatment in public health facilities. In fact, a previous study indicated that 70% of the workforce comprises of intern doctors and Senior House Officers.
Aron Nahabwe, the publicist for the Uganda Medical Interns said that the strike by interns will therefore leave a significant human resource gap in the public health sector.
“We demand that government gives us even the little allowances that they promised, for us to complete our training and also deliver much needed services,” he said.
He said that some interns working in Mulago have resorted to walking from as far as Kawempe where they sleep in order to improvise. But this he says does not only demotivate them but also affects them psychologically and their performance while attending to patients.
“This is the same intern that attends to emergencies and saves lives yet his/her own life is in danger. An angry and hungry intern is harmful to your health,” Nahabwe said.
They challenged the misconception that depicts intern doctors as students, yet ideally, they are graduates who are only by law are required to undergo a year of supervised practice. They say that the services they offer are equal to those of any other health worker and are entitled to pay.
“Any graduate can no longer be in a position to call their parents for upkeep. So, we are nolonger students and we need money to survive,” Lubega explained.
The resumption of the strike by medical interns comes three months after they (interns) joined doctors in an industrial action, protesting poor facilitation, remuneration, delayed payments and chronic lack of medical supplies. In the strike, the interns demanded an increment to Shs 2.5 million in net monthly salary which government promised to look into.