26 June 2009
Maputo — Contrary to reports earlier this week, the Mozambican government has no intention of cutting the wages of chronically ill state employees, but instead plans to increase them.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, the government spokesperson, Deputy Education Minister Luis Covane spoke of "an allowance of 30 per cent of their wages" to be paid to chronically ill employees for up to two years. Journalists present at the briefing interpreted Covane as meaning that the persons concerned would only receive 30 per cent of their wages.
But speaking to AIM on Friday, the Minister for the Public Service, Vitoria Diogo, said that in reality the government decree grants the sick employees a 30 per cent allowance on top of their basic wage. In other words, they will receive 130 per cent of their wages.
The measure is aimed mainly, but not exclusively, at state employees who are HIV-positive. Of the 167,000 people employed by the Mozambican state, an estimated 32,000 are HIV-positive.
According to Diogo, the government decree states that when a medical board declares that a worker is chronically ill, and unable to continue working, he or she will be allowed to take up to two years leave. During this time the worker must receive medical treatment. In addition to receiving 100 per cent of his or her wages during this period, the worker will also receive an allowance of 30 per cent, intended to ensure that he or she can obtain an appropriate diet.
Diogo stressed that the story, carried by much of the media, both publicly and privately owned, that the government is cutting the wages of chronically ill employees by 70 per cent is not what the strategy document approved on Tuesday contains.
Instead, the government recognised that, in order to recover their health, the chronically ill need more money. Diogo stressed that people suffering from HIV/AIDS do not only require appropriate medication, but also a healthy diet. So, in addition to the 30 per cent allowance, the state will also provide its chronically ill employees with a monthly package of basic foodstuffs.
Diogo stressed that the allowance is not intended for each and every HIV-positive worker, but only for those who have medical confirmation that they are unable to work.
The purpose of the allowance and the food package is to ensure that the people concerned can recover and return to work. AIDS is no longer a death sentence, and people receiving the life-prolonging anti-retroviral therapy can continue leading relatively normal lives.
Diogo stressed that the government is concerned about the growing number of deaths from AIDS in the public administration. Currently, about 1,600 state employees are dying of AIDS every year. Over the next 15 to 20 years all the 32,000 public servants who are currently infected are likely to die unless measures are taken now to cope with the crisis.
After two years of treatment and leave, each beneficiary of the allowance will be re-examined, said Diogo. If the medical board judges that the worker is still unable to return to work, he or she will be obliged to take early retirement. People in this situation will no longer receive wages, but only the pension to which they are entitled.
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