Africa-Press – Angola. The salary of health professionals will undergo a significant increase, in the near future, after the understanding, this Friday, between the Executive and the Union of Angolan Doctors, assured the Secretary of State for the Hospital Area.
Leonardo Inocêncio explained that, with these changes, the doctor on duty, being the highest level in his category, will now have a net salary of more than one million kwanzas and the specialist doctor more than 800,000 kwanzas.
The Secretary of State for Health for the Hospital Area said that the parties did not reach an agreement on the requirement of up to two million kwanzas, for certain reasons.
But, the official added that doctors benefited from an overall increase in the Civil Service, such as a six percent increase, covering other structures of the Ministry of Health, including subsidies for attire, biological risk and compensation, which reach up to 60%. %.
The salary issue, he said, was also increased with the increase of 192 hours in the bank, whereas previously it was 62 hours. “We consider it an important gain, because it will do justice to those who, for one reason or another, during their journey made six banks a month, without deserving remuneration”, he explained.
In addition to the salary issue, Leonardo Inocêncio referred to the question of the reclassification of the doctor Adriano Manuel, who is only pending the withdrawal of the judicial process that he imposed before the courts.
Another situation is the improvement of conditions, assistance and other actions at the sector level. “We know that a great effort has been made to improve, which has even deserved special attention from the President of the Republic, specifically with the financing of the construction of new infrastructures and the increase in human resources, which allowed the holding of two public tenders, in the last times.
The Secretary of State also revealed that the Executive has invested in the purchase of medicines and equipment, thus complying with the three fundamental axes of Health, among which, the improvement of medical and drug assistance for the population.
He added that combating malnutrition, reducing maternal and infant mortality, addressing major endemic diseases such as malaria, HIV, tuberculosis and others through the determinants of Health.
Leonardo Inocêncio said that for the first time, more than two thousand doctors are being trained in postgraduate studies. He indicated that the change in the medical career, which resulted in a direct internship, is a concrete action of this nature that has been explained to professionals in the sector.
“The Health budget is decentralized, there are actions that are at national, provincial and municipal levels. The Executive has been working together so that everything is resolved. I need the points in the claim book to be fixed and not constantly changed”, he warned.
Lifting the strike
Due to this understanding between the parties, the Secretary of State believes that the doctors’ strike, which began on Monday, can be lifted, if there is common sense on the part of the Union.
The Secretary of State stressed that the meeting discussed important aspects of the claim book, but it was possible to reach a consensus together with the Ministries of Finance, Public Administration, Labor and Social Security, Health and the Union.
Defended background creation
The president of the Doctors’ Union, Adriano Manuel, in an interview with Rádio Nacional de Angola, defended having a decent base salary, since subsidies are only valid when you are working.
“If we are sick, the subsidy is withdrawn, mainly for the added hours and for monitoring inmates. Therefore, we think that the base salary is the one that has to be changed, what the Government presents only accounts for the 192 hours, which everyone will do it”, he clarified.
Adriano Manuel explained that when the Union presented the proposal to change the hours, it was referring to those who work in remote areas, because they worked more than seven banks per month, earning a salary that did not correspond to 192 hours.
The unionist recognizes that the Government, through the General State Budget, will not solve the health problem. Therefore, he proposed that other sources of financing should be found, through oil, where 1% of revenues can be taken and put into a health fund.
He stressed that compulsory insurance, too, can be resolved, if each citizen is deducted from his salary. Another solution raised by Adriano Manuel is related to public companies, which can take something from their income to benefit the aforementioned Health Fund.
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