The Independent Union of Senegal Doctors announced a general strike on the next Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Secretary -General of the Federation, Mamadou Demba Nador, during a major union meeting.
This strike comes in response to the crisis that hospitals suffer from in Senegal, where Nadour confirmed that the government does not show sufficient commitment in managing human resources and social affairs related to the health sector.
Nadour pointed out that doctors and health sector workers suffer from tremendous pressure as a result of the chronic shortage of medical personnel, as the number of health workers is 44 thousand, but only 10 thousand work in civil service, including 7 thousand providing health care and 3 thousand working in the administration, while it works 30 Others in private facilities, exacerbating the burden on the public health system.
He explained that the health sector gets subsidies of 30 billion francs (about 47.7 million dollars) distributed over only 45 health bodies, an amount that does not meet the increasing needs of the population. He also pointed out that the absence of employment in the civil service 4 years ago led to the exacerbation of the crisis due to the lack of employment of new medical cadres, which increased the burdens on the doctors present.
The Secretary -General stressed that these strikes aim to draw the attention of the authorities to the urgent need to reform the health system, including increasing the budgets allocated to the sector, providing the necessary equipment, improving working conditions, and employing more doctors and health workers. He considered that this strike is a cry of doctors working in difficult circumstances, which affects the quality of care, especially for the poverty groups based on public facilities.
He added that these protests come in the context of continuous tension between professional unions and government, as unions have been calling for years for radical reforms to improve public services, especially the health and education sectors. The doctors expressed their dissatisfaction with the government’s ignorance of their repeated demands, warning that the continuation of this neglect may lead to more deterioration in health services.