In Madagascar, paramedics are unhappy. They are still waiting to pay their requisition surcharges during the Covid-19 epidemic. For just over seven months, they were obliged by the state to fight the virus across the country. But none of the island’s 7,265 nurses, nurses and midwives received these benefits, says the healthcare association, which has repeatedly challenged the Ministry of Health.
From our correspondent in Antananarivo,
“Absence of recognition” and even “state exploitation”. This is what many nurses feel after months of commitment to treating coronavirus patients. A dissatisfied staff, especially since they worked in uncertain conditions during this period .
“We had no personal protective equipment and we were in danger for six months. The state once provided us with washable equipment and it was damaged because we cleaned it with chlorine. We had to buy some with our own funds, says Angela, a nurse at a hospital in Antananarivo.
“I feel completely abandoned. We took the oath to treat people so we do our job but I’m discouraged today. The state remembers us when it needs to, but when it comes to rewarding us, it forgets us, Angela continues.
A requisition supplement of between 30,000 and 36,000 arriary per day, or 7 to 8 euros. “We had to get paid every two weeks,” said the president of the Paramedics Association, Jerisoa Ralibera. A method specified in the implementing regulation of the law on requisitions of persons.
“Everyone is furious about this situation because we worked in difficult conditions. Recently, the Ministry of Health has turned its back on us. He refused all our requests to be heard, he emphasizes.
The union intends to restart the Ministry of Supervision and submit a request for the premium to the Prime Minister. “If the state turns a deaf ear, we have two choices: file a complaint to the prime minister or start a strike,” he concludes.
Contacted by RFI, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance did not respond to his request.
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