Health Grievances: Gov’t creates interministerial mediation committee

By Stephen TADAHA

An Interministerial Committee that will examine the complaints of grieving Health Workers in Cameroon and propose concrete solutions to their problems, has been put in place by Prime Minister, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute in a decision he signed on June 20.

The Interministerial committee is structured in three chapters thus the creation, organization, and functioning chapters, and is made up of diverse personalities and stakeholders.

Members of the Interministerial committee are the Ministers of Public Health, Public Service and Administrative Reforms, Labour and Social Security, Finance and Decentralization, and Local Development.

Among other missions the Ad hoc committee will have, are:

• to update the list of workers who are in precarious situations (a list that stands at 27 000)
• to define objective criteria to be fulfilled in the progressive contextualization process of health workers in precarious conditions.
• to examine all revendication’s tabled by the health workers within the framework of the Social inclusive dialogue and propose real solutions to the problems. “The proposed solutions will be submitted to the hierarchy for appreciation” reads the decision.

This decision from the PM, according to some trade unionists, is a positive progress made to resolve the 1-month social tension.

” We are presently seeking solutions that will calm down the situation. This is already a step forward because all Government ministries that are concerned with this case, have been included in the Ad Hoc Committee,” Declared Sylvain Ngah Onana, president of the CAP/Santé trade union.

” We are now waiting for what we can term policy mediation which can be real before July 15. Let’s wait and see” He added.

” We were already waiting for a reaction from the government and the reaction can be seen through this Prime Ministerial decision. We shall reach out to other workers so that they get the information and also decide which position we have to take. Our fight is to find long-lasting solutions so as to improve the living and working conditions of health personnel in Cameroon, ” concluded Onana

Health workers in some hospitals in Yaounde, on May 22, 2023, began protesting against low wages, lack of funds, burnout, lack of working equipment, and unsafe working conditions. The strike action in Cameroon’s Capital is currently in its second month, and the workers promised to continue the strike till their problems are solved.