MONROVIA, October 6 (LINA) -The Country Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Liberia, Dr. Peter Graaff, has advised health workers to halt their planned go-slow action slated for October 10.
Dr. Graaff’s advice comes in the wake of recent reports that health workers have threatened to embark on a go-slow on Friday in demand of improved salaries and better working conditions.
Addressing a news conference at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) on Monday, he noted that although the health workers might have a point, it is important for them to keep working rather than resorting to actions that will put the lives of people at risk.
He said engaging in go-slow action at this point in time would suggest that the health workers are compromising the gains achieved in providing health services to the population, especially in the fight against the Ebola virus .
Meanwhile, Dr. Graaff has said WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has in the past two weeks trained 60 health workers, doctors and nurses to be assigned at Ebola Treatment Units.
According to him, another batch of 60 will be trained in the coming weeks to ensure that people suffering from symptoms of the Ebola disease are cared for even though there is no treatment for the virus.
Dr. Graaff said with the opening of the Ebola Treatment Center at the Island Clinic on Bushrod Island, the WHO and the Health Ministry are exerting efforts to complete the construction of two additional centers at the Defense Ministry in Congo Town and the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville.
He disclosed that when completed, each of the centers will contain two Ebola Treatment Units with each of the units accommodating 200 patients.
Meanwhile, Dr. Graaff has indicated that the WHO, along with some partners and the Government of Liberia, is interested in the resumption of normal healthcare services in the country so that pregnant women and children can be attended to.
LINA HVW/JGT/TSS/PTK