Doctors El Obeid threaten with a new strike

The Doctors Committee in El Obeid will go back to a general strike on Thursday if the authorities do not meet their demands. Authorities should stop immediately with their assaults on medical personnel as happened several weeks ago, the doctors demand.

The medical staff want police officers to be posted at the main gate of the El Obeid hospital, preventing security organs, including military intelligence officers, to enter the compound intimidating and interrogating staff members.

Doctor Abdul Nasser Mohammed Osman, a general practitioner at El Obeid Teaching Hospital and a member of the Doctors Committee, announced his threat to Radio Dabanga. He conveyed his message on Sunday to the mediation committee that moderated the discussion between the State authorities, the Ministry of Health and the medical staff of the hospital.

Doctors in El Obeid started its first strike June 3.  Due to a lack of anaesthesia specialists, some operations could not be performed and military and civil patients had to wait. The doctors complained about a lack of medicines, staff and salaries. Members of the Military Intelligence entered the hospital and started to beat several surgeons and specialist doctors.

The government promised last Thursday to solve the pending issues. The mediators had pledged to meet some of the most urgent requests within 8 hours. The doctors are demanding full immunity and only want to be held accountable towards the administration of the hospital and not to external authorities.

According to the doctors, their demands remained still unaddressed. On Sunday the Doctors Committee in El Obeid said it is now running out of patience. I will only wait till Thursday before a new strike will be announced.