Liberian health workers go on strike amid Ebola crisis

Monrovia, Oct 14 (IANS/EFE) Liberian health workers Tuesday began an indefinite strike demanding higher wages because of the high risk they face treating patients with the Ebola virus disease that has caused more than 2,200 deaths in the country.

The strike came after the expiry of an ultimatum given last week to the country's health ministry for a salary hike and to reinstate two members of the Association of Health Workers who were dismissed in February for calling a strike.

Liberian Health Minister Walter Gwenigale promised that the health workers would receive "fair" wages, but ruled out any possibility of reinstating the dismissed officials.

"Those health workers who are insisting that their officials will have to be reinstated before they return to work should prepare to stay at home forever," the Liberian minister threatened in a statement.

The Ebola epidemic that plagues West Africa, where it has killed more than 4,000 people since it erupted in March, has hit health workers who have contact with sick patients.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) a total of 233 medical and health workers have died in recent months in the region: 38 in Guinea Conakry, 95 in Liberia, five in Nigeria and 95 in Sierra Leone.

In early September, nurses at the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia, one of the biggest centers for the treatment and isolation of Ebola in the country, also went on strike to demand better wages and greater protection from the virus.

Although Liberia has declared a state of emergency and has implemented measures to combat the virus, the epidemic still continues to spread in the country.

Since the outbreak of Ebola in March, more than 4,000 people have died, especially in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Conakry, although cases have also been reported in Nigeria, Senegal, the US and Spain.

--IANS/EFE

ab/bg