Nurses go on strike over poor work conditions

Nurses in hospitals and health centres across Burundi began a two-day strike on Monday to demand better working conditions. "Striking is the only option," Melance Hakizimana, the leader of the Syndicat libre des infirmiers du Burundi (Sylibu), the main trade union for nurses, told IRIN on Tuesday. The government would not start talks with the union, he said. Hospitals and health centres in the capital, Bujumbura, and in the provinces of Makamba, Kayanza and Bururi could only provide minimum service. Hospitals remained fully operational in the provinces of Gitega and Muramvya where nurses did not strike as they belong to a different union. The striking nurses listed 14 demands, including one for overtime pay. Hakizimana said the current arrangement was unacceptable. Nurses earn an extra 3,500 francs (US $35) per month no matter how many hours they work. He said the nurses were also demanding that the government recognise the risks their job entails, handling blood and sharp objects and treating patients suffering from transmittable diseases. "When there is an emergency sometimes we cannot properly protect ourselves," Hakizimana said. Another grievance is free access to health care. Hakizimana said it was wrong that nurses cared for others but did not have access to care when they fell ill. Some hospitals do provide their employees with free treatment but, Hakizimana said, "When it comes to buying drugs or care in other hospitals, we have to pay." The minister of health, Dr Jean Kamana, told reporters on Monday that the public service health insurance company, known as Mutuelle, covered nurses. They only pay 20 percent of drugs prices and hospital bills. "This means the government contributes to their health care," he said. Kamana also said that nurses' working conditions must improve along with the conditions of other workers in the health sector. The striking nurses will resume work on Wednesday but will stay away again next week if their demands are not met. Then on 25 October, they plan to stage a strike that would not end until their grievances are met.