Providing more compensation for health care workers in light of the Ebola threat is not high on the agenda of the government. Rather, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan says Government is focusing all efforts to improve safety procedures in case the virus found its way to T&T’s shores. Responding to questions about calls for improved remuneration for health care staff, Khan said: “Right now we are concerned with procedures for safety. Compensation will be done at an appropriate time.”
However, public relations officer of the Medical Association of T&T Dr Austin Trinidade said it was unfortunate that some people were trying to make money out of the perceived Ebola threat.
“You cannot start to make a profit out of a perceived emergency. That is absolute nonsense and I am very upset about it,” Trinidade said. He said anyone who went into the medical field understood the risks involved. “To ask for extra pay and insurance is to cash in on serious situation. That is not the ethics that health workers should follow. “All of us face the risks of all kinds of diseases. Ebola is an extreme case but when you become a health worker you understand what is involved and there is an ethical principle by which we work. “We cannot be paid extra because of added risks. If it is a problem to work with these risks then you should not become a health worker. You cannot make money out of Ebola. Nowhere in the world is this happening.” he added.
Asked if enough was being done to allay the fears of health workers, Trinidad said it was important to educate them about the need for proper safety precautions. He said quarantine facilities also would assist to decrease the spread of the virus.
We not pushing $$ over life—Duke
President of the Public Service Association Watson Duke has called on Government to quadruple the salaries of all workers exposed to Ebola risks as well as provide a $10 million insurance for them. Asked yesterday whether he had any meetings to discuss that, Duke said: “We are not pushing money over life. The major matter is if there is an Ebola outbreak they must provide the equipment, appropriate training and all the necessary prerequisites for proper screening.” He said specialists should be brought to T&T to train health workers, adding he was not satisfied with the strategies the Government had initiated to date. He said classes should be held for all health care workers.
However, Chief Medical Officer Dr Colin Furlonge who was part of a team which went to Nebraska, USA, for training on Ebola, said calls for increased renumeration was being discussed at the highest levels. “We are in the process of looking at this. We have also been in discussion with other treatment centres in other parts of the world and we have guidelines which we will follow,” he added.