Junior doctors in Sierra Leone went on strike Monday to demand better treatment for health workers infected with Ebola, a health official said.
The association representing junior doctors asked the government to make sure life-saving equipment, like dialysis machines, is available to treat infected doctors. The government has promised that a new, fully equipped unit is opening soon near the capital. But the doctors began their strike anyway, according to Health Ministry spokesman Jonathan Abass Kamara.
Ten of the 11 Sierra Leonean doctors who have become infected have died. Ebola has killed more than 6,300 people, including hundreds of health workers. Throughout the outbreak in West Africa, health care workers have periodically gone on strike to demand better protection or higher pay.
In an effort to make sure health workers get top-notch treatment, special centers dedicated to their care have already opened in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
As infection rates in Liberia and Guinea begin to stabilize, Sierra Leone has now recorded the highest number of cases, and Sierra Leoneans have been asking why the disease is picking up pace there and some have lashed out at the British response. In particular, the charity Save the Children, which is running the first U.K.-built treatment center to open, has been criticized for a slow and disorganized rollout.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/sierra-leone-doctors-strike-ebola-care-27449276
The association representing junior doctors asked the government to make sure life-saving equipment, like dialysis machines, is available to treat infected doctors. The government has promised that a new, fully equipped unit is opening soon near the capital. But the doctors began their strike anyway, according to Health Ministry spokesman Jonathan Abass Kamara.
Ten of the 11 Sierra Leonean doctors who have become infected have died. Ebola has killed more than 6,300 people, including hundreds of health workers. Throughout the outbreak in West Africa, health care workers have periodically gone on strike to demand better protection or higher pay.
In an effort to make sure health workers get top-notch treatment, special centers dedicated to their care have already opened in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
As infection rates in Liberia and Guinea begin to stabilize, Sierra Leone has now recorded the highest number of cases, and Sierra Leoneans have been asking why the disease is picking up pace there and some have lashed out at the British response. In particular, the charity Save the Children, which is running the first U.K.-built treatment center to open, has been criticized for a slow and disorganized rollout.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/sierra-leone-doctors-strike-ebola-care-27449276
