Main hospital paralyzed by strike

A strike by over 500 workers at Malawi's largest hospital has paralysed health services in the commercial capital Blantyre and could already have resulted in the deaths of two patients, AFP reported on Tuesday, quoting government officials. Strike action by junior medical workers at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), which serves the highly populated south of the country, has "almost closed" the 1000-bed hospital, with 80 percent of patients seeking medical help elsewhere.

There are unconfirmed reports that at least two people have died as a result of lack of medical attention, and Secretary for Health Richard Pendame told AFP that "the death rate could be higher." The health secretary added that only 200 critical patients were left in the wards at QECH after authorities failed to convince striking personnel to return to work on humanitarian grounds.

The hospital has enlisted the help of 68 Red Cross volunteers to cook for patients and clean the wards. The striking healthcare workers want professional, housing and duty allowances, backdated to July, to augment their monthly salary of US $40. The government has not yet implemented a budgeted pay-out of US $110 million in salary increases to its 120,000 civil servants. The pay rises, which would have seen junior medical workers' salaries nearly double to US $77 US dollars, were awarded at the beginning of September and due to take effect at the end of last month.