• 08:44
  • Thursday ,01 November 2012
العربية

Egypt's striking doctors to form human chain for health reform Thursday

by Ahram Online

Copts and Poliltical Islam

00:11

Thursday ,01 November 2012

Egypt's striking doctors to form human chain for health reform Thursday

Egypt's striking doctors announced they will form human chains from the Doctors' Syndicate to the Ministry of Health in downtown Cairo, 1pm Thursday, in order to voice the demands of their month-long strike.

The protest, which was announced via the strike's official Facebook page last week, aims to communicate to the public the reasons behind the industrial action, in addition to exposing corruption within the ministry.
 
The Egyptian Current Party, formed by former Muslim Brotherhood youth members, confirmed Tuesday they will participate in the demonstration, voicing their solidarity with the medics' demands.
 
The doctors' partial strike, which has been ongoing since 1 October calling for 15 per cent of the state budget, instead of the current 5 per cent, to be allocated to health, an improvement in doctors' salaries and increased security at hospitals and medical centres, which have been the target of recent attacks.
 
The strike has not included university, police and army hospitals, or emergency rooms.
 
Last year, doctors carried out nationwide strikes in May and September but took to the streets again in October after the government failed to meet their demands.