Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Health assistants across the country on Wednesday went on an indefinite strike with a six-point demand, including revision of employment rules, elimination of salary discrimination and provision of technical ranks.
Under the banner of Bangladesh Health Assistant Association, they earlier announced the strike by submitting a memorandum to the Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on September 28.
As a result of the health assistants' strike, vaccination has been suspended at 15,000 out of 120,000 outreach EPI vaccination centres across the country every day. This is depriving about 150,000 mothers and children of vaccination services, according to a statement from the association.
In addition, the typhoid vaccination programme scheduled to start on October 12 will also face uncertainty due to the strike. This could deprive about 50 million children and adolescents of vaccination, it added.
Leaders of the health assistants’ association claimed that 26,000 health assistants, assistant health inspectors, and health inspectors across the country are repeatedly being given only words of hope by the authorities.
“Not a single health assistant will return to work until the six-point demand is implemented,” read the media statement.
In the memorandum submitted to the DG of DGHS, demands were made for amending the recruitment rules, setting the educational qualification as graduation or equivalent, granting the 14th grade, promotion to the 11th grade through in-service diploma training, granting technical ranks, and consistently providing the next higher grade in the case of promotion.