Tensions are rising between the medical syndicates and the Ministry of Health as the Doctors and Pharmacists Syndicates have entered their third week of partial strike across the country, as per the Syndicates’ General Assembly agreement to organize partial strikes every Monday and Wednesday during February, with a list of demands they claim the ministry refuses to respond to.
Amidst the rising conflict between both sides, the Doctors’ Syndicate published an online statement Wednesday denouncing the referral of a doctor to the Attorney General, after the Health Ministry accused him of breaching the law by entering an operation room without taking appropriate sanitization precautions.
The syndicate criticized the ministry for not respecting its independence, adding that the ministry breached the law by not referring the doctor to the institution in which he works.
A number of media outlets reported that doctors threatened to escalate matters and announce a full strike if demands are not met.
A row between the syndicate and the Ministry of Health also erupted over the number of doctors participating in the strikes.
On Wednesday, the Doctors Syndicate announced the partial strike was seeing the participation of 40 percent of doctors in Cairo.
The syndicate’s Secretary-General Rashwan Shaaban said Alexandria saw 40 percent participation, Giza 45 percent, Cairo 40 percent, Marsa Matrouh 60 percent, Damietta 60 percent, Gharbia 65 percent, Sharqia 70 percent, Kafr el-Sheikh 80 percent, Sohag 70 percent and Suez 40 percent.
The Ministry of Health provided far different percentages for the partial strike, as Deputy Minister Hesham Atta said the strike reached 18% in Cairo, and all other governorates.
This is not the first time the ministry has provided numbers contradicting syndicate reports, and claimed to have the most accurate figures. On Feb.13, the ministry announced participation numbers much lower than ones reported by the Doctors Syndicate.
Atta also downplayed the impact of the strike and said it did not impact university hospitals, military and police hospitals, emergency services, kidney dialysis, intensive care, hospital nurseries, burn and flu units, vaccinations and the issuing of birth and death certificates.
On Feb.17, Health Minister Maha Rabat stated the partial strike was held in the clinics of 63 hospitals, adding that eight governorates have not participated and said the ministry did not receive any complaints, “confirming the smooth provision of health services.”
