Healthcare, especially immunisation programmes, has been hit hard at primary and maternity health centres in the city with doctors and nurses, on contract under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), on strike for the past nine days. The healthcare workers are protesting outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.
At least three Chief District Medical Officers have told the state Directorate of Health Services that polio immunisation efforts had been badly hit by the strike. There are around 3,300 doctors, nurses, auxiliary nursing midwives, data entry operators and laboratory staff working on contract in the capital under the NRHM.
Sources said at least 2,000 of them were still on strike, though some had resumed work.
Before the strike began on June 8, many workers applied for leave. The Directorate of Health Services had issued orders cancelling all leaves of the health workers, but sources said health workers were still going on leave.
Following the strike, sources said ‘Mission Indradhanush’, an immunisation programme, was especially affected during June 8-15, with only 15-20 per cent households being covered from the earlier 90-95 per cent.
“Immunisation targets are met by house-to-house outreach programmes, which are undertaken by the contract health workers. The west district, where 95 per cent households were covered during earlier programmes, saw very poor coverage last week with around 10 per cent,” an official in the Family Welfare department said.
Overall, the coverage of households for immunisation following the strike has been between 10 per cent and 15 per cent. “We usually see 90-95 per cent coverage. This has been one of our poorest weeks. The polio immunisation round is scheduled on June 21 and, without adequate ground staff, we may not be adequately prepared. We will rope in senior doctors,” a Chief District Medical Officer said.
“Many of us have been working for 10-15 years, we do the same work as regular employees but have been denied equal pay, leaves, medical benefits and pension rights. Even though we have been sitting outside the CM’s residence for nine days, he has refused to meet us,” Bhawana, president of the state NRHM/RCH Contractual Employees Welfare Society, said.
-See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/strike-by-contract-health-workers-hits-immunisation-programme/#sthash.vJiU3JUu.dpuf
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