As the COVID-19 crisis worsens across most of Southeast Asia, tensions between government authorities and burned out health care workers are threatening to push already fragile health systems to breaking point.
In several Southeast Asian nations, health care providers calling for stronger job security, more equity in access to health services, and better protection against more infectious variants of the coronavirus, have put governments on the defensive.
In Malaysia, which has one of the region’s highest per capita infection rates, police have opened investigations into medical staff for their recent show of support for the “Code Black” and “Black Monday” online campaigns that highlighted the plight of young contract health care workers seeking permanent posts in government.