By BintaJaieth & AdamaMakasuba
Association of Public Health Officers yesterday, Monda, announced a temporary suspend of its industrial sit-down strike action after striking a deal with senior officials of the Ministry of Health and Head of Civil Service.
According to the association, the deal includes a pay of drawback of allowances to public health officers before May 30.
They cited discrimination and unjust treatment by authorities of the Ministry of Health which they added include to unjustified officers, demotion of redeployment of Senior Public Health Officers, undermining the Public Health Officers expert opinion in matters of Public Health and most Health Officers recently the exclusion of Public Health Officers in the approved allowance scheme for the Ministry of Health Staff.
Speaking at an organised news conference held at Kotu, vice president of the association, Musa Nget said: “we wish to submit to the notice of the general public that, as part of the resolutions that were agreed upon from the emergency congress, we have finally arrived at a conclusion that all Public Health Officers should report back to work on Tuesday, 12th April, 2022, marking the end of the first phase of the sit-down strike. This is as a result of our engagement meeting with the SG and Head of civil service that our entitled allowances will be paid by end of May.”
“We hope that our demands will be met by the agreed date to avoid reoccurrence of such a situation in the future. Without doubt, the contribution of the Public Health cadre in the advancement of Public Health in The Gambia cannot be over emphasized,” he added.
He highlighted that for years the public health cadre has maintained an impressive immunization delivery performance which resulted to The Gambia been rated and awarded by GAVI in 2009 as high immunization performance country. The Public Health Cadre strives to introduce new vaccines into the routine immunization services of The Gambia.
According to him, the public health cadre has been playing significant role in pushing the agenda of National Health and Education Programmes in the country. Gambians are more generally aware and making informed choices on a wide range of health issues thanks to the strong partnership and collaborations between Public Health Officers and the communities.
