Health officials in South Sudan’s Tonj State say the health situation in the state is deteriorating after health workers abandoned their duty stations due to disagreements over the mode of payment.
Tonj state Health Minister Adak Yel Madut told Radio Tamazuj that the two main health facilities Tonj and Marial-Lou hospitals have been closed.
Yel said the doctors are protesting a decision by the federal health ministry to pay all doctors in local currency.
According to Yel, the national ministry of health undersecretary Dr. Makur Koriom in March ordered that all health workers be paid in local currency instead of US dollars.
He added that the doctors operating Tonj and Marial-Lou hospitals were receiving their salaries in US dollars from health partners.
The medical director of Tonj hospital Dr. Mathiang Agany confirmed to Radio Tamazuj the closure of the health facilities saying all the workers are protesting the new directives.
Early last month about 51 doctors and support staff at Tonj State hospital went on strike to protest a directive from the National Ministry of Health to cut doctors’ salaries from $1,000 to $600, while trained nurses from $650 to $180.