Monrovia — Dozens of aggrieved anaesthesia providers on Thursday staged a massive protest at the Ministry of Health in Congo Town, Monrovia, demanding fair salaries, benefits, and formal recognition of their critical role in Liberia's healthcare system.
The protestors, drawn from health facilities across the country, said their action followed years of unfulfilled negotiations with the government. They are calling for swift action on longstanding grievances related to salary bands and benefits for mid-level health workers, particularly anaesthesia providers.
Addressing reporters during the protest, President of the Liberia Association of Nurse Anesthetists (LANA), Mehnpaine S. Dolo, who works at Redemption Hospital, said discussions with the government began as far back as 2024 under the Boakai administration
According to Dolo, the association has held a series of engagements with the Ministry of Health to implement a clear policy for mid-level health workers and anaesthesia providers.
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However, he accused the government, through the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Civil Service Agency (CSA), of downplaying their concerns.
He noted that the issue has persisted for nearly three budget cycles, stressing that in what he described as the "worst case scenario," nothing was allocated for anaesthesia providers in the proposed US$1.2 billion 2026 national budget.
"We started this negotiation very peacefully and cooperated with the Ministry of Health. So our coming here today shows the public that we have been suppressed," Mr. Dolo emotionally noted, adding that members of the profession have been "grieving in the workplace."
Dolo further disclosed that the aggrieved group has met with the Senate Committee on Health in search of redress and a proper resolution, but those efforts have so far yielded no results.
The association is now demanding that the Government of Liberia implement approved salary bands and benefits, warning that the absence of these incentives is causing severe hardship for anaesthesia providers and their families.
Anaesthesia providers operate across Liberia's health system, and protest leaders cautioned that without them, the sector would face serious challenges that could put the lives of ordinary Liberians at extreme risk and devastation.
Historically, anaesthesia services in Liberia were limited. Prior to the 1970s, anaesthesia was largely provided by foreign practitioners or by local clinicians trained informally through apprenticeship rather than structured education.
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The country's prolonged civil conflicts between 1989 and 2003, followed by the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, further devastated the healthcare workforce and infrastructure, resulting in acute shortages in surgical and anaesthesia services nationwide.
The protestors vowed to continue pressing their demands until the government takes concrete steps to address their concerns. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah.
