Protest Medical Workers In Afghanistan Are Not Paid Three Months Amid Pandemic

Photo illustration (United Nations / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The role of medical personnel to contain the spread of COVID-19 is vital. Therefore, support in various forms also came to facilitate the comfort and safety of their duties. However, the irony actually happened in Afghanistan, where medical personnel who should have received full support from the government, have not received a salary for three months.

As a result, more than two hundred medical personnel staged a protest in the city of Herat, West Afghanistan, on Tuesday, May 19. They demanded that the government immediately pay the rightful salary. Moreover, over the past few months, medical personnel have been struggling to deal with COVID-19 with makeshift personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing equipment.

Launching Reuters, one of the doctors who took part in the Abdul Rauf Rahimi protest, said the government should be more concerned about the fate of medical personnel. Especially, those who come into direct contact with COVID-19 patients.

“We have risked our lives to save people, a lot of doctors are infected too. The government must at least respect us and pay our salaries on time, "he said.

Not only that, Rahimi also added that the timely payment of salaries is the best step so that all patients who are treated can be handled properly. Therefore, it is hoped that the government will not delay payments which in turn can slow down health services.

The protests are justified. This is because nearly hundreds of doctors and other health staff in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have tested positive for COVID-19. On that basis, the doctors advised some patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms to self-isolate at home.

Not waiting long, Afghan Health Ministry spokesman Ahmad Tawhid Shukohmand spoke up. He said the government had heard demands from medical personnel.

“We really need doctors and health workers and in a few days their salaries will be paid. We are seriously working on this. "

So far Afghanistan has confirmed 7,653 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 178 cases who died.