Union in al-Sulaymaniyah: Salaries represent "half" of the problems in the health sector

Shafaq News / The Healthcare Workers Union in al-Sulaymaniyah revealed today, Tuesday, that salary issues constitute around 50% of the healthcare sector's problems.

Hawzeen Osman, the head of the Healthcare Workers Union in al-Sulaymaniyah, told Shafaq News Agency, "The healthcare sector suffers from several problems, with salary issues constituting half of the sector's problems. There are about 9,000 employees facing salary issues in the Directorate of Health in al-Sulaymaniyah, while on the other hand, there are approximately 14,000 healthcare professionals who lack employment opportunities."

He added, "Regarding salary delays, we have made intensified efforts with the al-Sulaymaniyah and Erbil administrations to address the issue. However, the problem remains unresolved, and we plan to hold a meeting soon to discuss the problem. If the salaries are delayed, we will resort to realistic options to confront the issue and take appropriate action."

"Over the past period, we have tried to pressure the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan to reduce the number of medical colleges and institutes. However, they have not responded positively; instead, they have opened new colleges and institutes, with expectations of opening more colleges next year. We are in the process of reaching a memorandum of understanding between the union and private and government universities”, Osman stated.

Moreover, the head of the Healthcare Workers Union in al-Sulaymaniyah mentioned that they have reached an agreement with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Trade to create job opportunities for several healthcare professionals in laboratories and factories licensed by these ministries.