Government reviews nurses risk allowances as salary dispute continues

Health and Child Care Minister Douglas Mombeshora told Parliament that the government is reviewing nurses' risk allowances while formal negotiations over salary demands continue. Nurses demand an increase to US$600 per month, arguing that current wages have eroded under prevailing economic conditions. The health workers have staged multiple industrial actions against the government over poor remuneration, severely disrupting the public hospital services across the country. Mombeshora said the government is evaluating proposals to increase health-specific allowances as an interim measure while broader salary discussions proceed. The core vulnerability of the health sector remains the widening gap between worker compensation demands and the government's fiscal capacity to meet them.