Gambian nurses are being forced to quit their jobs by their families, according the Nurses and Midwives’ association of the country.
Health workers have come under intense scrutiny of late after it emerged doctors are left overwhelmed by the spread of the pandemic.
Health centres in some areas have been shut after staff got hit the most by the killer disease as Gambia experiences a rapid surge in number of coronavirus cases.
It followed loosening of lock down regulations as public institutions resume including shops before being shut again.
Already a 21-day curfew is being observed with soldiers deployed to ensure enforcement of the order.
In the interim, it has emerged nurses are being asked to render resignation letters by their alarmed families amid growing stigma, accusations that they’re responsible for the spread of the pandemic.
“It has come to the attention of the National Association of Gambia Nurses and Midwives that some family members are discriminating and stigmatising the nurses and midwives in their homes. Elsewhere, nurses were forced by their family members to quit the job due to fear of cross infection,” the Nurses and midwives association of the Gambia said in a dispatch hours ago.
Craving for public indulgence as number of cases hit above thousand, the body added: “the Association is calling on the Gambia Government to engage the families of these nurses to stop the on going stigma and marginalization against their own family members who happens to be nurses.”
