Health workers from Guinea-Bissau denounce that the government has sent away more than 1,000 professionals

Speaking to Lusa, Déncio Fernandes reacted to the order issued today by Guinean Health Minister Dionísio Cumba, in which the government announced it would cancel all health sector recruitments in 2021 for failing to comply with the criteria set out in the law.

Among the criteria to be respected, Dionísio Cumba includes the existence of a vacancy, the financial availability to pay the technician, and the Ministry of Public Services approval.

The minister’s decree indicates that from now on, health personnel will be approved through vacancies and public tenders.

According to the coordinator of Guinea’s collective of public health entrants, more than 1,200 technicians are directly affected by the measure.

Déncio Fernandes said he had advised technicians working to date in hospitals and health centers in Bissau and the interior to leave the services and go home.

“We have given instructions to all technicians at the national level to leave the service. The state claims that we are not useful; after all, the order was already signed when we were still on duty,” said the official.

The coordinator of newly recruited technicians in Guinea-Bissau’s public health system noted that at the Simão Mendes National Hospital alone, the largest hospital center in Guinea-Bissau, about one-third of the medical staff is affected by the measure.

Fernandes said that the measure affects about 240 technicians, including doctors, nurses, midwives, and other staff involved in patient care.

“This situation will leave a big void in Simão Mendes, and we think the government will soon feel the effects,” said Fernandes, who did not rule out strikes and vigils by medical staff, counting on the system’s personnel.

Déncio Fernandes said the structure he coordinates has held consultation meetings with two health sector unions, with whom he said they would fight “until the government reconsiders its position.”

Lusa has contacted the management of Simão Mendes Hospital but has not yet received a response on the impact that the discontinuation of the service of 240 professionals has on this medical facility.

In a message posted on the social network Facebook after an emergency meeting with directors and nurses of all services to “analyze and find internal solutions”, the hospital management expresses solidarity with the dismissed colleagues.