Africa-Press – Uganda. More than 2,000 medical records personnel countrywide have vowed to carry on with their strike until the government addresses their welfare concerns.
The health records officers under their umbrella body, Bonded Uganda Health Information Officers and Medical Coders Association (BUMECA) announced their industrial action effective April 1.
Addressing journalists at Mulago Community Centre in Kampala on Friday, the association president, Mr Tom Baker Tandisuwala, said they issued a 40-day ultimatum to the government to address salary harmonisation and payment of arrears, among other issues, which expired with no action taken.
“We have decided to lay down our tools until the government responds to our critical concerns,” Mr Tandisuwala said.
The medical records officers under U3 grade earn a monthly salary of Shs933,461 while the health workers of the same scale receive Shs3.1m, which to them is a huge discrepancy.
Mr Tandisuwala said on Wednesday last week, they met with the Ministry of Health and discussed their critical concerns but were disappointed when they received a letter from the Director General Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Henry Mwebesa, that had not captured their concerns.
Not happy
Mr Benard Atibo, the association general secretary, said more than 2,000 of their members manage health information from lower health facilitates to national referral hospitals, whose concerns have not been addressed.
“It is proven not only nationally but internationally that medical records and health information services are vital and hence it is a global health priority as it drives evidence-based decisions for the success of every health care system,” defended Mr Atibo.
They called on President Museveni to accord them audience so that their problems can be addressed.
“Your Excellency, during the time of Covid-19, these people used to give you data on how that sickness is moving, how it was being managed and those graphs you would read, we are the people responsible for managing this information,” Mr Baker noted.
He noted that it is only their personnel in emergency units and specialised departments such as Uganda Blood Transfusion Services, Uganda Cancer Institute, and Uganda Heart Institute who will keep working, whose services for 14 days.
“And if the government fails to respond, they will be withdrawn,” he said.
The public relations officer at BUMECA, Mr Emmanuel Manenga said when the salary of medical personnel was increased in 2018, most of the medical records personnel have never received the increment and that they have different salary scales even when some have the same qualifications.
Efforts to get a comment from the Health minister, Dr Ruth Aceng, and Dr Mwebesa were futile as they did not answer our calls by press time.
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