Doctors resumed their nationwide strike Wednesday to demand better financial conditions and security of hospitals after Eid al-Adha.
In Alexandria, the Doctors Syndicate said 85 percent of doctors are taking part in the strike for the second month.
“We will continue to push until the officials respond to our demands,” said syndicate spokesman Taher Mokhtar, adding that the strike does not include emergency units, intensive care units, nurseries and dialysis, oncology and critical cases.
Meanwhile, the Administrative Court in the governorate ruled that doctors are entitled to their monthly bonuses and ordered the Health Ministry to disburse them.
In its opinion, the court wrote that the ministry failing to pay bonuses contradicts the objectives of the 25 January revolution.
In Damietta, doctors resumed their strike after a hiatus for the holiday. Doctor Mohamed Abdallah, one of the striking doctors, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that they insist on providing proper emergency services to patients, and conducting necessary tests and X-rays free of charge.
The doctors’ strike, which started on 1 October after being approved on 21 September at a Doctors Syndicate emergency general assembly meeting, is now entering its second month, as doctors vow escalation. The Health Ministry claims to be working to meet their demands.
The doctors are calling for raising the health budget from 4.5 percent to 15 percent of the total state budget, reviewing the administrative and financial conditions of the sector and providing better security for hospitals.
Doctors in public hospitals began a mass resignation campaign on 18 October intended to escalate the ongoing strike to force the government to meet their demands.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
