He said the ministry would negotiate with the students until their problems were settled.

“We will discuss until they are satisfied. But the terms to be discussed must be for both sides.

“As government employees, there are rules and regulations we must follow. As students, they too have to comply with rules and regulations.

“We cannot supersede regulations,” he told a press conference on Thursday.

Some 1000 student nurses from Yangon’s Nursing University and Nursing Training School, former students and non-governmental organisations marched in a protest from the university to the Mahabandoola Park in front of City Hall on Wednesday.

The protest was to highlight the conditions faced by the student nurses. They claimed they were repressed, and told to do tasks not part of the job description for nurses at clinics, private and government hospitals.

Some protesters held up signs with slogans such as “No safe healthcare system in Myanmar” and “Do you know there are unlicensed nurses providing healthcare in public hospitals?”, highlighting the issue of nurses not getting their nursing licenses.

Dr Thet Khaing Win said he was concerned about what could happen to the unlicensed nurses.

“We have set up a team to negotiate. We will negotiate the details,” he said.

A representative from the ministry’s treatment department said nursing licenses are only issued to those who have served a term as government employees.

“Those who protested that they had not been given the license have not served the term as government staff. If they don’t work for the government, they will not get the license.

“Those who had resigned from their government positions may have the license if they submit a report according to procedure.

“We will negotiate with the nurses and midwives council about the license issuance,” he said.

The ministry’s negotiation team consists of deputy director-general (Treatment Department) Dr Htay Aung as chair, and Treatment Department (Yangon) head Dr Tha Tun Kyaw as vice-chair.

However, the official letter on the appointment of the team has not been released, according to the Treatment Department director of nurses Daw Khin Mar Kyi, who was said to be part of the team.

“We were informed that we had been listed as members of the negotiation team. But there is no official letter or any instructions from higher up.

“Once instructions are given, I think we will call a meeting and discuss how to proceed with the negotiations with the students,” she told
The Myanmar Times.

Meanwhile, an intern nurse at the 550-bed Children’s Hospital in Mandalay, Ma May Thu Hnin said the protest would continue until a solution could be reached.

“I have asked for a timeframe to be set to find a solution. They said there is no time to spare to solve the problems.

“Their answer doesn’t tell us what is going to happen next. It may be going in a bad direction, and likely more protests will be held,” she told The Myanmar Times.

According to the ministry’s guideline, over 37,000 nurses are needed in 1123 hospitals in Myanmar.

Currently, only 26,000 nurses are employed, and about 2000 nurses are trained for the workforce each year, it is learnt.

– Translation by Zaw Nyunt and Swe Zin Moe

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