Mumbai : Six ailing workers of Sewri TB hospital suffering from Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have resumed their hospital duties as they had not received salaries for two months following the completion of their paid leaves.
The workers union pointed out that while the civic body in the 2013 standing committee had mentioned a proposal wherein the paid leaves for workers with MDR-TB would be increased from 1 year to two years, nothing concrete has been worked out yet, taking a toll on the workers and their families.
The 1,200-bed Sewri TB Hospital in Mumbai, one of the largest tuberculosis hospitals in Asia, has been struggling to contain the spread of the disease among its doctors, nurses and Class 4 workers. In total, 15 workers of the hospital have contracted MDR-TB in the past few years.
Pradeep Narkar, secretary of Municipal Mazdoor Union, said: “Class 4 employees are the worst-affected as they do not even get an appropriate number of N95 masks every day. Workers have been forced to join the hospital again as they have a family to feed and also have to bear the costs of their treatment.”
“These workers’ health condition is far from good as the treatment has led to side-effects —their eyesight and hearing have been affected. Also, one of the workers has contracted MDR-TB for the second time but still comes to work,” said a staff member from the hospital, on the condition of anonymity.
Manasi Tahalani
