–Prominent Scientist, Inventor, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan tells Gov’t
Washington, DC – In the wake of healthcare workers’ strike around the country, the award-winning Liberian medical doctor and inventor, Dougbeh Chris Nyan has called for slicing of the huge pay of top government officials including members of the Legislature and improve the pay of health workers and teachers.
Dr. Nyan expressed his support for all healthcare workers in Liberia who are carrying out strike actions in demand of salary areas owned them by the government of Liberia.
Health workers and other civil servants in Liberia have not being paid for several months. This is causing strike actions by healthcare workers around Liberia, the latest being the strike by doctors and nurses at the government-owned Duport Road Health facility in the suburb of Monrovia.
“Yes, I am in solidarity and support of civil protest actions taken by healthcare workers and other civil servants in Liberia for their salaries,” responded Dr. Nyan when asked, adding that, “it is very unfair that the government would neglect to regularly pay healthcare workers and other professionals, while top executives and legislators take home huge salaries and other perks, and this is just not fair.”
The learned scientist further commented that, “when you look at the pay gap, it is so wide that you ask yourself how can a doctor, a professional nurse or a university professor take home less than $3,000.00 USD a month, while lawmakers make around $13-15,000.00 USD monthly; tell me how can anyone justify this?” asked Dr. Nyan, also a social activist who made the comments in response to questions about strike actions around the country.
He stated that, “there needs to be a drastic reduction in the salaries of legislators and the excess used to pay other civil servants like health workers and teachers who are making enormous sacrifices for the people.”
Dr. Nyan said, “it seems that some legislators are genuinely advocating for their own salary reduction, while many of them are only paying lip service to the issues.”
The healthcare worker’s strike at the Duport Road Clinic also gain support from patients, most of whom were pregnant women and women who have just given birth. The patients set up road blocks, thereby preventing the regular flow of traffic. Recently, healthcare workers in the southeastern part of the country threatened to go on strike if government did not settle about 4 months of salaries arears owe them.
Attributing the problems to other causes, Dr. Nyan further stated that, “the wasteful spending by the CDC government and its gross mismanagement of the country’s finances could also be a big factor that is contributing to government’s inability to meet up with salary obligation to civil servants.”
The German-trained doctor said that, “the CDC government has failed the people in many things it promised including better healthcare, affordable education, business empowerment, youth employment, and other priority areas of the country.” He add that, “the CDC government’s much touted pro-poor program is more of an anti-people get-rich-quick agenda that has driven the citizenry into misery and deeper into poverty.”
Dr. Nyan suggested that, “the government needs to reassess it spending habit, reduce legislative salary, stop the orgy of corruption, empower Liberian businesses, and prioritize health, education and other important areas of the society.”
Dougbeh Nyan is a Liberian scientist and medical doctor who is globally renowned for his invention of the multiplex infectious diseases testing device that simultaneously detects and identifies multiple infections like HIV/AIDS, Typhoid, Hepatitis viruses, Dengue, Yellow fever, Malaria, Ebola, Zika and others. Most testing methods take anywhere from three to seven days, but Dr. Nyan’s device gives test results in about 10 to 40 minutes. His invention was recently awarded a United States Patent.
The Nyan Test provides a significant step in the detection and management of infectious diseases worldwide. Dr. Nyan is also a known social political activist. He was chairman of the Student Unification Party, an executive of the Liberian National Students Union, and currently he serves as Vice Chairman for International Affairs of the National Democratic Coalition of Liberia (NDC), a coalition of Liberia’s social democratic parties. He is a member of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) and the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).