In Kyrgyzstan, medical staff is afraid to complain about poor working conditions
In Kyrgyzstan’s social networks, there are more and more messages from medical staff complaining about poor working conditions and the lack of protective equipment to work with people infected with a new coronavirus infection.
One of the last to complain about the working conditions on Twitter was a young man named Bektur, who introduced himself as a medic on the network.
“The media write that doctors are provided with personal protective equipment. In fact, I was given a mask with holes on my duty today that is unlikely to protect me from being infected with coronavirus. And then they wonder, why doctors are infected with COVID-19,” wrote @ Bektur1130, attaching the photo of the same mask to the post.
The topic is hot, because the number of coronavirus infections among doctors is really growing in Kyrgyzstan. So, according to the Republican headquarters, there are 79 medical workers with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in the country.
“Among them are 24 doctors, 32 paramedical staff (nurses, laboratory assistants, medical assistants), medical attendants (attendants, laundresses, cooks and others),” said the Deputy Minister of Health, Nurbolot Usenbaev.
Sometime after the publication, the young man reported pressure due to the publication and deleted his account. Later, a video appeared on the network, in which the medic apologized for the allegedly false information.
The video was criticized by the public. Deputies stood up for the medical worker and said they would support him.
ACCA contacted the Ombudsman of Kyrgyzstan to clarify the situation.
“The post of the young medical worker in social networks is not unique. For our part, we, of course, are monitoring the situation. Our staff visited the doctors who reported poor working conditions and lack of security (with someone in person, with someone on the phone), because not everyone is willing to make contact with our representatives. It is interesting that all medical workers in communication with our employees refused claims, saying that they hastened to conclusions, without understanding the situation,” commented Tokon Mamytov.
According to him, the main problem is that health workers complain on social networks, but as soon as it comes to official treatment, they all immediately renounce their words.
“I think there are certain problems, but we were faced with this situation for the first time. Some countries are experiencing some difficulties today. At the same time, the human factor also shouldn’t be ruled out. Someone was unhappy that they did not entrust him with leadership, but he believed that he would do it better. And somewhere, messages can be caused by not very good relations in the team. People need to understand that we are doing a great job now and we need to unite in the fight against COVID-19,” the Ombudsman emphasized.
Tokon Mamytov has denied reports that medical workers are afraid to report problems officially due to persecution by law enforcement agencies.
“To all with whom we had conversations, we proposed to officially report violations. At the same time, we guaranteed them protection, but they didn’t want to do it. And without an official statement, we cannot investigate the facts voiced by them,” he concluded.
