Maputo — The Association of United Mozambican Health Professionals (APSUSM) has threatened to resume its nationwide strike as of Thursday supposedly because the Health Ministry (MISAU), has failed to fulfill promises made in the negotiations.
The strike had been suspended in August 2023. Neither APSUSM nor the Health Ministry gave any reliable figures as to how many workers obeyed last year's strike. At the time, APSUSM claimed 65,000 members, which would have made it the largest union in the country.
According to APSUSM spokesperson, Anselmo Muchave, who was speaking to reporters on Monday, "we're going back on strike because the period of suspension only served to prove the government's lack of commitment. During the previous strike, we said that our health facilities were suffering from a shortage of medical and surgical equipment and medicines.'
"While we had hoped for some improvement, the situation in the health units is worse than before', Muchave added.
He said there had been several meetings with government negotiators, but agreements on various aspects of the APSUSM list of demands have not been fulfilled.
In addition to non-compliance with these demands (which he did not specify), conditions in the hospitals are getting worse, he claimed, alleging that there is no medication to treat the most common illnesses, including a lack of gloves, masks, syringes and needles, plasters, catheters, and even paper to print hospital documents and analysis results.
"There is also a shortage of laboratory reagents, fuel for ambulances, food for patients, and hospital linen', Muchave added. "There is also an increase in the number of health units that are deprived of electricity, as a result of cuts made by the publicly-owned electricity company, EDM'.
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This list is similar to claims made last year, and which were flatly denied by the Health Ministry.
In some cases, Muchave alleged, the patients are forced to pay electricity bills in order to be assisted by a health professional. This is a claim that has never been mentioned before, and one that seems extremely unlikely.
Muchave also accused the government of not being interested in solving the problems faced in the public health facilities because "when they fall ill, they turn to private clinics,' a claim which he made no attempt to substantiate.
"The poor citizen who can't afford to go to a clinic is left behind. They forget that the right to health is not a favor, it's a duty of the state', declared Muchave.
In addition to good working conditions of work and the supply of essential material for work and medication for users, the APSUSM demands include increased overtime pay and improvements in the way health workers are placed in the new Unified Wage Table (TSU) for the public administration.
