A number of doctors and pharmacists will begin a partial strike nationwide in public hospitals on Wednesday.
The strikes will occur alongside vigils to mourn Dr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, who died earlier this month from a patient-transmitted infection in the intensive care unit of Banha General Hospital.
Syndicate officials said the strike calls for the protection of the rights of patients and doctors. They also said the strike would not include emergency departments and intensive care units, and that doctors or hospital administrators that would disrupt the strike would be sent to disciplinary committees.
The syndicate said in a conference that the ministry does not allocate enough resources or benefits consistent with a proper foundation for a good public health system.
It also said that the strike is professional and not political, and that doctors would not raise any political slogans.
“Doctors will never let patients down,” said syndicate chairman Dr. Khairy Abdel Dayem. “The strike is for their own good.”
“We demand an increase in the health budget to global averages so we can arrive at a health insurance system of international standards,” he added.
“Doctors need better incentives,” Abdel Dayem said. “They also need a law that protects them from the risks of their profession.”
Syndicate Secretary General Dr. Mona Mina said that those demands are not new.
“Our demands were never fully met,” she said. “Must it take a doctor to die for us to receive attention?”
Syndicate member Dr. Ahmed Hussein said the incentives that have been disbursed benefit private hospitals only.
“They were taken from the ministry’s payroll,” he said. “The ministry will take the money back from the Health Service Improvement Fund, which is funded out of patients’ pockets.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
