Minister says demands by health workers unrealistic: ‘Taking advantage of Covid-19’
Minister of Health and Population, Jappie Mhango has called upon health care workers in the country not to take advantage of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic by making unrealistic financial demands.
Mhango made the remarks this week in Lilongwe when he toured an isolation centre at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) as he was being briefed about the challenges managers are facing.
He said he aware of the situation many countries are in from reports across the globe.
Mhango said in other countries, health workers have ended up being infected in the course of offering health services to Covid-19 patients and that some have lost their lives.
He said no government would want to risk lives of their health personnel, hence ensures that all necessary personal protective equipment is available in all hospitals.
“Our economy is not resilient enough to accommodate hefty demands and my appeal to them is to always be reasonable in their demands,” said Mhango.
He said the essence of one being a doctor is to continue practicing and not collapsing the whole system because of the coronavirus. The minister said no one knows how far the virus will go.
Mhango then reminded the health workers that there is tomorrow and if the economy is run down in the name of corona virus, the same people would protest against the effects they want to create today.
“We rely on donor aid and currently, even the donors have been affected, hence our government cannot commit to meet the demands.
The health workers are demanding a $200 allowance per day, which is equivalent to MK150, 000 and working for 21 days.
Briefing the minister on the demands brought to her office, Director of Health Services for Bwaila Hospital, Alinafe Tambala said the health workers who were on duty refused to get the MK150, 000-package for working for two days in the isolation centre.
She further said the health care workers then agreed to put their tools down and demanded the MK150, 000-offer as a daily allowance.
They also demanded to be paid for working in the self- isolation as they would count it as if they are still on duty since they will still be away from their families.
Tambala told the minister all health workers have now boycotted anything related to the COVID-19 and that none of them was going to work in the isolation centre until their demands are met.
She said her office has no capacity to commit to such hefty demands, adding that the demands needed the attention of the ministry [of Health].
The minister has since advised the Director of Health Services to document the complaints as soon as she can so that they can be tabled to the Special Cabinet Committee on COVID- 19 to see how best they could handle the issue.
Nevertheless, he said having listened to the complaints, they are genuine and that government is in a position to revise the current rates to something reasonable.
Commenting on the issue, District Commissioner (DC) for Lilongwe, Lawford Palani said the council cannot commit to such huge demands, saying it would end up emptying the accounts.
Palani said has nothing against the health workers demanding a revision of the risk allowance and their daily allowance, but said the demands are way too high for Malawi’s economy.
“We have all worked so hard to make sure that the isolation centre at Bwaila is completed and that it is in operation.
“The challenge in front of us now is that health workers have put their tools down,” he said.
Currently, the health workers are also waiting to receive communication on the new rates for their risk allowances which they had asked government to revise from MK1, 800 per day to a reasonable rate.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Why only Health workers demand unrealistic?? U want to pocket the whole amount of Mk27Billion from W.H.O alone?
Share with others not being selfish .
A chunk of this money should go to healthy workers and not Jappie and the rest of the thieves. Gertrude already took her share of K1 billion.
When Civil Servants demand what is really theirs, you say they are making unrealistic demands. But when ministers demand 200% pay rise, loans which are usually never paid back, meal allowances, motor vehicle loans, fuel allowances, airtime allowances, sitting allowances, night allowances, government hiring South African lawyers at K600,000,000 and bribing Blantyre Synod with K70,000,000, then it is okay. One wonders if at all you are really serious with the fight against Covid 19. Instead of using that money to pacify the medics who have downed their tools, thus, putting lives of the sick in danger while the medics risk getting infected, yet you are abusing it on useless things. You have opened an accountat FDH Bank asking people of good will to deposit donations towards the fight against Covid, I just wonder if anyone in his/her right and stable mind would dare depositing money for you to use on selfish gains! Blantyre Synod, it simply and clearly shows God’s holy spirit has departed from the church!
Do you know where jappie mhango is coming from his tribe? For all those who have the negative sides of tumbuka jappie mhango from Rumphi mhuju boy should be at forefront , greedy and selfish has no intention of developing the country Malawi rather than destruction coz of greedy 💰 hungry. Jappie mhango you are a shame to the tumbuka.
Mwayamba kukangana ndalama zake zopasidwa zomwezo, eni ake andalamawo Akanva kuti ndalama zinja, anthu akugawana adzakuninkhani Zina, angokumvetseranitu,
Malawi government should consider training youth in national services that should include basic health care. I have noted lack of seriousness in the young health providers where their main focus is money. You have seen nurses and doctors crying to be employed by government yet they know that government pays low salaries yet when they are employed they cause problems. When these nurses and doctors are graduating they take vows yet there is no money mentioned in those vows.
K150,000 is unrealistic and if this happens then all other govt workers should be considered the same because it’s not only you who work in a hostile environment? Kufuna kulemera munthawi ya mavuto nkutero kodi nanga, sheee. It is unfortunate to make such demands while the house is on fire. Ngati wena alowetsako ndale to corner govt is very unfortunate and remember you the nurses when you taking the oaths during graduation you did not put a condition and there was preparations for ebola why dd you not make such demands that time so avoid kutumikira ena. And if govt hires nurses fm outside you will start blaming govt kuti ayamba kutisiya kodi tinatani a malawi
Nurses are just demanding what they think is good for them. No one is sending them to make such demands. We hear the cabinet committee pockets K300,000 per meeting so half of that amount is not bad for nurses
What is realistic?
: Paying Mk6000,000,000 to South African lawyers
: Gertrude Muthalika withdrawing MK 1 billion from the donor funded COVID-19 fund for her foundation?
: Using donor funded Covid-19 fund to buy campaign materials?
: Lying to international organizations and the world about the actual Covid-19 perverance in Malawi
: Announcing a hastily and poorly thought lockdown?
Cadet minister walira mokweza. Thumba la covid layamba kucheperachepera. He wanted to eat it alone with his blue buddies.
Everyone is acting as if Corona is governments problem alone. Aboma zisiyeni kaye zinthunzi,anthu akayamba kufa, they will come to their senses.Even these nurses, let them go back to their regular day to day jobs, once corona victims, start piling up in the hospitals, sense will come. Right now is not time to negotiate. Let protesters protest, let mtambo and Mcp win, let Chilima talk about Corona, let them undermine the leadership.let everyone be free. Time will come they will remember they have a government.
$200? are they building new Lungs and Trachea for these covid patients ? Just monitoring IV drips basi everyday $200??
Do you think $200 is a lot of money at the cost of working in the front line without PPE? Surely you know you can’t buy life.
A mtondowodoka u are u true malawian reading your comment means sense to those who cares people than fighting for political gain i feel sorry with my fellow malawians who put political in everything
Inuyo pitani mukagwire zosamala ma patient wao opanda ma protective wo tione ngati uncle anu angasangalale nazo
You Dudee!!! “Anthu akayamba kufa” I thought 2 have already died !! You write as if Covid 19 will spare you!!! Are you Normal??? I doubt.
Yes corona virus is a gaffment problem alone. Can’t you see the committee on covd19 comprises of dpp ministers alone? Why do you mention MCP and Chilima in this issue? Tell your dpp that this time is not for politics. It’s time to save Malawians. Those people in the committee are not the only wise ones in this country. If your president was wise enough he would have invited Dr. Chakwera, Dr. Chilima, HRDC leaders and others add them to the cabinet committee on covd19 to make a national committee. In this way all decisions made by such a committee would have a national blessing.
Non- starter..
They are asking for 70% of their basic salary which is less than 150,000 kwacha for the whole month.
They currently receive 1800 kwacha for the whole month. This amount was set 30 years ago when the salary itself was 6000 kwacha. How is it that with inflation the salaries changed but the risk allowance remained the same?
and NO the demands are not unrealistic, surely the same government that gives their cabinet ministers an allowance of 300,000 kwacha per press briefing can afford to pay their health care workers 150,000 kwacha per month for putting their lives and their loved ones as risk!
And don’t let them lie to you about situation on ground. The healthcare workers are asking for personal protective equipment, compensation mechanisma and employment of more health care workers during this pandemic.
Italy is struggling with more and more of their health care workers getting infected and dying. Italy has a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1000 while in Malawi the doctor to patient ratio is 1:300,000.
The issues raised by the health care workers are valid and reasonable and need to be addressed as a matter of urgency!!
So we have enough money to hire foreign lawyers to fight a useless case instead of just accepting to go to the polls in July but we do not have enough money to pay the people who will put their own lives at risk to help us in hospitals when covid 19 strikes?
We have enough money to pay cadets to destroy MEC equipment and terrorise those in the opposition so that we can continue to cling on to power but we have no money for our nurses?
So we have enough money to send our chiefs like the lomwe paramount chief who died and other politically connected people to foreign hospitals spending millions but we do not have enough money to increase the salary of our own doctors let alone buying PPE for them to treat covid 19 patients?
35 billion kwacha has been embezzled from govt just in the past 12months and no single person has been arrested because they are all politically connected but we do not have enough money to pay the people we need to save our lives during this covid 19 pandemic?
My personal advice to all medical personnel in Malawi is this, we as country has taken your services for granted for a very long time and it is time now to have this abuse addressed once and for all, if you stay united in your demands you will succeed if not then that’s your own funeral.
Thank you for the picture. I see a guy who grew up in slums and absolute poverty but found himself in an opportunistic favour of loose, dirty and unrealistic cash that got him fat to make his head oily, puffy and round. I am sorry sir, the fat is not healthy.
That’s being unrealistic for health workers to demand that much, but at the same Nalikukuti and his dpp have been telling us on daily basis that malawi economy is at its best than ever before. Moreover he just increased the number of ministrial posts as a confirmation of a very good economy, so what are they complaining now?
Risk allowance is not 1800 pr day but rather 1800 per month for doctors. Some idiot thinks this is reasonable enough when government still continues to misappropriate funds. Fotseki
1. Jane Ansah and tom mpinganjira can foot the health workers bill. After all, they can pay two idiot lawyers from South Africa a cool K600million for two days work (actually, for no work at all)
2. The health workers should adopt Mike Chitenje’s (Bangwe 1) militant style. Stone them and send them to the mortuary. Make sure the mortuary has no refrigeration.
Health workers want to use patients are human shield in the fight against corona. They want to cash on corona. In the UK where many people have died we have not heard hospital workers demanding allowances, all they are demanding is PPE, they want to be given equipment so that they can effectively do what they were employed to do. What is the connection between corona and allowances. Only two people have died from the disease (of course corona just contributed) they had underlying illnesses. Many people have died from Malaria and other illnesses. DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CORONA
You can not compare the UK environment to Malawi, those are so different. Do you realize that Malawian health workers are too underpaid, the UK health workers are better remunerated than Malawi’s, so please stop your nonsense argument. A nurse in Malawi is paid less than £250 a month with a health risk allowance of less than £2 a month not per day as reported in this article, Do you now see how terrible it is to work in Malawi as a health worker??
Nurses are not well paid in the U.K., get your facts right, the costs of living is very high in the U.K. after paying rent, transport, food, etc… they have very little or nothing left.
Malawi will never get out of poverty with attitude like yours. People stop stealing, stop expecting money for nothing and start working.
Lorma you can go and work on their behalf get 1,800.00 per month plus COVID-20 (not 19).
Upkeep nurses get paid 60,000 kwacha, that’s less than 100 dollars per month.
UK nurses get paid more than that in a week.
So yes, make sure your comparisons are fair.
Whatever you think, most health workers in Malawi especially nurses are just a nasty piece of work. Pure evil. Their attitude towards patients is bad COVID 19 or No COVID 19. PURE EVIL
You don’t know what you are talking about. Kagwire iweyo! Mbuzi Manu kunali. Better still fotseki+
The government is paying k300,000 sitting allowance for these idiot politicians masquerading as Coronavirus committee. Pay these nurses and doctors their dues. The Coronavirus has shown us who is important between politicians and these useless politicians. Now its time to reward medical personnel for the hard work and formidable risks they take
Get some facts before commenting do you know apart from having better personal equipment and better allowances from the start their Parliament is actually discussing on giving them an extra £20+ per day due to the corona virus giving more strain on the health system
IF ONLY WE HAD BEEN PAYING THEM FAIRLY ALL ALONG THEN THESE DEMANDS WOULD HAVE BEEN UNREASONABLE…..PAY THEM ….THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE RIGHT NOW……. EVEN DURING WAR SOLDIER WELFARE BECOMES A PRIORITY…….ITS THAT SIMPLE