Government Health Workers Form Alliance to Fight for Wage Hike

Government Health Workers Form Alliance to Fight for Wage Hike

Published on November 13, 2010
We are like many Filipinos, the leaders of various health workers and health professionals in the public health sector said they dream of having a decent house, enrolling their children in quality schools, and providing for their family’s basic needs like food, clothing and recreation. But sadly, they could not make both ends meet.
 
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – The Philippines is a ranking exporter of nurses in the world, but a “modest estimate” of a nurses’ organization places the number of currently unemployed Filipino nurses in the country at 280,000. Yet, amid the seeming surplus of nurses, many Philippine public hospitals sorely lack nurses. Why is this so?

Answering it properly would require a hard look at the condition of the country’s public health care system. A festering problem afflicting the public health care system is the working conditions of health care workers.

Thus, the public health sector launched an alliance last Wednesday November 10 to press the government for “decent wages, so we could give more improved services.”

(Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

“We are the doctors, nurses and health workers in public hospitals, health clinics and institutions. We are committed to serving Filipino patients amid the low health budget, understaffing, inadequate equipment and facilities, and inadequate salaries and benefits,” the united health sector said in a statement.
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Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/11/13/government-health-workers-form-alliance-to-fight-for-wage-hike/