Coronavirus: AI calls for protection of health workers by govts in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

13 Juillet 2020

Paris, France, July 13 (Infosplusgabon) - Amnesty International (AI) has said that governments must be held accountable for the deaths of people working in the health sector and in essential jobs that they have failed to protect.

At the launch of a new report documenting the experiences of health workers around the world, Amnesty International on Monday deplored alarming cases of health workers who, after expressing concern about measures taken against the COVID-19 pandemic, have been subjected to unnecessary reprisals attacks.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate around the world, we call on governments to take seriously the lives of people working in the health sector and in essential duties. Countries that have not yet reached the peak of the pandemic must not repeat the mistakes of governments that have failed to protect the rights of workers with devastating effects," according to AI.

The organization's analysis of available data shows that more than 3,000 people working in the health sector have been killed by the virus worldwide, a figure that is likely to be grossly underestimated as there is currently no systematic global monitoring of the number of deaths from the virus among health workers and other key sectors.

"It is particularly disturbing that some governments are punishing workers who express fears that their working conditions are life-threatening. If government policy is ineffective, the health workers on the front lines of the pandemic are the first to know. The authorities cannot pretend to give priority to public health by silencing these people," the NGO said.

In at least 31 of the countries surveyed by Amnesty International, health workers and other key workers had gone on strike, threatened to go on strike, or demonstrated because of their unsafe working conditions. In many countries, such actions resulted in reprisals by the authorities.

In Egypt, for example, the NGO collected information about nine health workers arbitrarily detained between March and June on vague and overly broad charges of "spreading false news" and "terrorism".

In addition to their unsafe working conditions, the organization said it found that some health workers were not being paid fairly, or in some cases not paid at all.

In southern Sudan, for example, it said, government-employed doctors have not received their salaries since February and have no social benefits or medical coverage.

In light of these situations, the report called on all states affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to conduct independent public studies on their pandemic preparedness and response measures to better protect human rights and lives in the event of another large-scale epidemic in the future.

"In particular, states must assess whether the rights of health workers and other key sectors, especially the right to just and favorable working conditions and freedom of expression, have been adequately protected," the report said.

It argued that states must ensure that all those working in the health sector and in essential services who became infected with the virus in the course of their work are adequately compensated, investigate cases of reprisals against professionals who have expressed health and safety concerns, and provide effective remedies to victims of unfair treatment, including reinstatement of employees dismissed for reporting the situation.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ANK/GABON2020

© Copyright  Infosplusgabon