2010-03-29

FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leonean medical workers began returning to their jobs on Monday after the government promised them a sixfold pay rise to end a two-week strike that paralysed the West African nation's health services.

A Reuters witness saw doctors arriving at a hospital in the capital Freetown on Monday, following the government's decision late on Sunday to award the pay rise.

"Salaries for doctors before were $100, now the government has assured us ... doctors will earn $600 monthly," said spokesman for the strikers Frederick Coker.

President Ernest Bai Koroma had said he would sack up to 200 doctors and senior nurses if they did not return to work on Monday.

"The government has reached an agreement with the health workers whereby the workers have agreed to resume work today (Monday)," said a statement broadcast on state television, without giving details of how the pay rises would be financed.

Sierra Leone is struggling to recover from a 1991-2002 war and often lacks basic health services.

Koroma has made healthcare a policy priority and in April promised to introduce free care for pregnant women and children under 5 years old, to mark Sierra Leone's 49th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Last year rights group Amnesty International said one in eight women risk death during pregnancy or childbirth, giving the nation one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.

The scale of the promised pay rises raised questions about the government's ability to afford them, and whether other public sector workers would be encouraged to strike in order to secure similar benefits.