Health Ministry doctors have suspended industrial action after the government promised to increase its budget, reports Reem Leila Doctors taking part in an open-ended strike have decided to suspend their action after a delegation of doctors' leaders met with prime minister Essam Sharaf and minister of finance Samir Radwan, Sharaf promising that the government would act to meet some of their demands. These include an increase of at least 15 per cent in the Health Ministry budget, the securing of hospitals against attacks, the mapping out of a fair salary structure, and the dismissal of Health Minister Ashraf Hatem. Rami Fouad, a member of the higher committee of doctors delegated to meet with the government, said that although Sharaf had not committed himself to a definite figure, he had said that some 10-13 per cent of the government's budget would be made available to the Health Ministry. "As a result, we have temporarily suspended our strike," Fouad said. However, although doctors have accused Hatem of corruption, claiming mismanagement when he was in charge of the Qasr Al-Aini Hospital in Cairo and corruption at the ministry of health, Sharaf did not respond to demands for his dismissal. Sharaf said after the meeting that doctors' job descriptions would be based on a new salary scale, and he promised that no striking doctor would be penalised. "If the rest of our demands are not met, the committee will meet with doctors' representatives to decide whether to end the strike definitely or not," Fouad said. The doctors began their strike on 16 May, and the action lasted for three days, with sit- ins taking place in front of the cabinet office in Cairo and at premises of the Doctors' Syndicate across the country. According to Fouad, some hospitals did not join the strike because the committee had not been able to get word out of its decision. Nevertheless, the strike included doctors from different specialties, though it excluded those working in emergency and intensive care units. "The response rate to the strike varied, with 75 per cent of Greater Cairo hospitals participating and almost 90 per cent of those in other governorates, including Port Said and Ismailia. In Suez, all hospitals were on strike, the overall number reaching 227 hospitals," Fouad said. For the first time, hospitals in the Red Sea and North Sinai governorates joined the strike, in addition to hospitals in the Upper Egypt governorates. The Lower Egypt governorates of Damietta, Daqahliya and Menoufiya also took part in the strike. During the strike, doctors taking part complained that they had been threatened by the Ministry of Health and the Doctors' Syndicate. According to Ayman Shawqi, a doctor at Ahmed Maher Hospital in Cairo who participated in the strike, the ministry threatened all striking doctors with six months' suspension and with internal investigation by the ministry. "The managers of hospitals were trying to operate their hospitals, but they could not due to the high percentage of doctors participating in the strike," Shawqi said. Hamdi El-Sayed, the head of the Doctors' Syndicate, criticised the idea of an open- ended strike. "The syndicate agreed to a one- day strike because this is a civilised way to express doctors' demands. However, the decision to start an open-ended strike came from a group of young doctors, and these have not abided by the ethical and moral code of the profession." "They have insulted me personally, and this is not acceptable on either the ethical or professional level," El-Sayed said. He pointed out that doctors had held a successful one-day strike on 10 May. Although El-Sayed disagreed with the idea of an open-ended strike, he nevertheless believes that many of the doctors' demands are fair. Yet, he questioned where patients would go if they needed medical treatment during the strike, especially since many patients might be suffering financial difficulties in the wake of the 25 January Revolution. "Government hospitals are the only places that provide medical services for the general public at affordable fees," he said. Doctors have threatened collectively to resign from government hospitals and organise a one-million-man march on Tahrir Square if their demands are not met. Two weeks ago, the Health Ministry announced a new salary scale for doctors, with Abdel-Hamid Abaza, head of the ministry medical sector, saying that the government would raise salaries to LE1,500 for resident doctors and LE1,400 for appointed doctors. Abaza denied claims that the ministry had threatened to sanction doctors who had participated in the strike. "It is freedom of expression. We cannot force them to end their strike. At the same time, the ministry has already made its own plans regarding increasing salaries and securing hospitals," he said.
