CAIRO: Doctors organized a nationwide strike in public hospitals and a number of private hospitals Tuesday as agreed by the Doctors' Syndicate at the emergency general assembly held earlier this month. The response rate to the call for strike action was estimated at 80 percent across Egypt, according to the higher committee supervising the strike, which organizers said exceeded their expectations. "This is the first strike in Egypt's history that doesn't call for sector demands but was organized for the sake of the whole society; we want better health care for the Egyptian patient," said Rashwan Shaaban, spokesman of Doctors Without Rights and member of the higher committee. Doctors are demanding the dismissal of Minister of Health Ashraf Hatem, raising the health budget from 3.5 percent to 15 percent of the national budget, increasing wages and providing adequate security at hospitals. The strike included all but emergency and dialysis operations staff, emergency surgeries, deliveries and intensive care unit staff. It lasted from 9 am to 2 pm. "Everyone participated in the strike even those who disagreed with the idea. Patients were angry at the beginning but we convinced them that it was for their good,” said Mohamed Shaaban, a doctor at Cairo's Al-Mounira Hospital. Response rates in Greater Cairo were estimated to be 65 percent of doctors while outside Cairo it was estimated at 90 percent with Port Said, Ismailia and Suez at 100 percent of its doctors on strike. A number of universities and private hospitals participated in the strike and a number of doctors who own private clinics said that they will open their clinics for free on Tuesday. "No single patient who was in need of urgent medical care was affected by this strike; we have been postponing the decision to strike for three years but the terrible security situation at hospitals was unbearable," Shaaban said. Organizers said that there have been no major clashes between patients and doctors and that patients have been cooperative and understood the reasons behind the strike. However, the manager of Mahalla General Hospital, in the Delta governorate of Gharbiya, complained to the military police who threatened doctors on strike with arrest if they don't go back to work. "The strike was successful despite the strong campaign against it by the ministry and the syndicate's board who spread rumors that the demands were met and the strike was cancelled ahead of the strike," said Mona Mina, member of Doctors Without Rights and a member of the higher committee. "There have been threats to doctors by health administrations and hospital managers that they would be referred to disciplinary committees if they go on strike," she added. Organizers blamed the failure of the strike in Aswan on the head of Aswan's Doctors' Syndicate and the head of the health administration for telling doctors that the demands were met. Hamdy Al-Sayed, head of the Doctors' Syndicate, said that he filed a lawsuit at the administrative court claiming that the general assembly's decisions were illegitimate as they opposed the syndicate board's wishes. He said earlier in press statements that the strike was "unethical." "Although I agree with some of the demands, I didn't participate because the timing of the strike is wrong amidst all that is taking place in the country," said an internal medicine doctor at Mattarya Hospital who asked not to be named. "The demands are legitimate in an illegitimate timing; the economy is down and demanding wage increases is unattainable from the government now," the doctor added. According to the general assembly's decisions, those who didn't participate in the strike will be subjected to disciplinary action for not abiding by the general assembly's decision, according to the syndicate's bylaw. A number of doctors said that they were employees affiliated with the ministry which didn't issue any strike decisions and that they would have been punished had they participated. However, according to Ramy Fouad, member of the Youth Coalition of Doctors, “Doctors at the ministry and health administrations are members of the syndicate and must abide by its decisions." Doctors say that if their demands are not met, they will go on an open strike starting May 17. Doctors describe the developments of the strike during a press conference at the Syndicate on Tuesday. (Daily News Egypt Photo/Hassan Ibrahim)
