MONROVIA, Sept 25 (Reuters) - A medical workers' impress can Liberia has paralysed the country's already faltering Health care system, leaving its biggest hospitals can disarray and thousands of patients without care.
Government doctors, nurses and other cane are protesting against low wages, delayed payments and ill working conditions that embrace shortages of crucial tool and ordinary electricity blackouts.
Liberia, one of the world's poorest countries where most nation dwell without reliable access ought electricity and transparent water, suffered from a 2013-16 Ebola outbreak that killed more than 4,800 people, including more than 150 healthcare workers.
"We are sitting and our children are sick, and they told us no ought enter the gate," said Gifty Harris, a adolescent mother sitting against a wall with her baby above her lap exterior the John F. Kennedy Medical Center, the largest hospital can the capital Monrovia.
"I'm here though treatment, nevertheless during the government conduct no need ought allowance the workers."
The white halls of the hospital were empty and a heavy padlock above its gate kept patients waiting outside, sitting can the highway can need of treatment.
Union officials said they had been negotiating with the government though three months ago launching the strike. They project ought impress until the government adheres ought their demands, they said.
"If we are going ought face can back, we will can least need ought dine supplies," said George Poe Williams, secretary general of Liberia's health workers' institute who estimates that 6,000 health workers are above strike.
"Are we supposed ought retort ought hospitals where there are no lights and we will dine ought apply our jail phone lights ought work?"
Representatives of Liberia's health ministry declined ought comment.
During a newspaper conference above Monday, Liberia's finance minister Samuel Tweah said that the government was doing "everything possible" ought clean revenue payments that dine been backlogged though August, and that health workers to retort ought their posts nevertheless the government negotiates with institute leadership.
Patients can acute condition who occupied beds ago the impress began dine been allowed ought linger can the public hospitals, nevertheless during total others dine been also discharged prematurely or turned away upon arrival.
“If anything happens ought us accurate now, the government will exist responsible," said Ruth Flomo, a pregnant 19-year-old who was turned away from the Du port path Health Center, another padlocked hospital.
"The nurses are no helping though they are no getting paid. Their children are no going ought school. They dine ought allowance them." (Reporting by Alphonso Toweh and Derick Snyder Writing by Cooper Inveen Editing by Juliette Jabkhiro and Peter Graff)
