Pharmaceutical Technicians Protest Low Pay and Lack of Recognition

[PODCAST]

A group of pharmaceutical technicians have expressed outrage over what they describe as unfairly low salaries and a lack of proper recognition for their profession. In 2015 Unam took up the initiative of upgrading the pharmacist assistant to Pharmaceutical technician through a 2 year course of which many have now graduated. However they are now not being recognized as pharmaceutical technicians with a diploma but they say they are still being forced to work as pharmacist assistants despite the upgrade to other professions, such as the nursing sector. The technicians also claim they are being forced to work as pharmacist assistants instead of practicing in their field due to the absence of a specific grade for pharmaceutical technicians within the public service structure. Frustrated by what they call a lack of progress, they have petitioned the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with a list of demands, urging the government to address the issue as a matter of urgency for over 8 years now. Executive director in the office of the prime minister, I-Ben Nashandi did not pick up his phone yesterday when Desert Radio inquired for a right of response. To provide more insight into this pressing issue, we are joined by Ndinomukulili Petrus, a representative of the students and a pharmaceutical technician currently studying in Zimbabwe.