Interns demand payment of allowances

Maputo, 14 Apr (AIM) – A group of medical interns from UNIZAMBEZE University, in the central city of Beira, on Monday demonstrated in front of the Health Ministry building, in Maputo, demanding payment of their allowances which they say they have not received for the past 10 months.

According to the group, assigned to Beira Central Hospital, all formal channels of dialogue have been exhausted, but there are no visible results. The interns are now threatening to go on strike for an indefinite period.

The interns, assigned to Beira Central Hospital, denounced the lack of surgical and medical supplies and so decided to travel to Maputo to demand improved conditions.

“We have been doing our internship at the Beira Central Hospital for ten months now, but the fact is that in those ten months we haven’t been paid even a single month. We are owed ten months’ allowances”, said one of the strikers.

The interns explained that they sought answers from the Provincial government, without success. However, they claim to have been informed about the availability of 68 million meticais (1.1 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate) disbursed by the Health Ministry.

“However, since December, not a single medical allowance has been paid to a single student from Unizambeze. But the students from Eduardo Mondlane University, in Maputo, received their allowances. We want to understand what’s happening”, the sources said.

According to the students, the strike has evolved into a permanent vigil, “therefore we will remain here until there is a concrete response from the government, as channels of dialogue have been exhausted without practical results.”

Last July, the National Union of Students (UNE) expressed dissatisfaction at a government decree aimed at cutting allowances to medical students, arguing that this measure “puts national public health at risk, because the allowances, which have been in force for more than 20 years, made it possible to minimize the financial burden on students during their internship, particularly in terms of food, transport and the purchase of personal protective equipment, at a time when many hospitals are facing a shortage of basic resources.”

UNE called on the government to reconsider its decision to cut allowances to medical students.
(AIM)
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