Sudan VP calls for protection of medical staff

Sudan’s Second Vice-President, Hassabo Mohamed Abdelrahman, has called for the provision of security at hospitals and the emergency units, as well as adherence to access-control regulations at hospitals.

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that Abdelrahman was speaking on Tuesday while chairing a meeting of the Council of Ministers assigned to discuss the situation of hospitals.

It was attended by the Chief Justice, the Ministers of Health, Justice and Interior, the Sudan Doctors Union, and the Health Professions Trade Union.

In a statement, Minister of Health, Bahar Idris Abu-Garda, said that a committee was formed to study and solve the phenomenon of assaults on medical cadres, formulating a vision and drastic solutions for the health services and reactivating implementation of the laws and circulars of the Ministry of Justice concerning the health sector.

He said that the Vice-President has affirmed the state's concern with the health sector and its employees as well as the protection of doctors.

Strikes

The meeting comes against the backdrop of widespread anger among doctors and medical staff in Khartoum state following several attacks over the past weeks.

Doctors and hospital workers at Omdurman teaching hospital, as well as Ibrahim Malik and Bahri Teaching Hospital, downed-tools on Sunday in protest against attacks on doctors.

The Health Ministry of Khartoum state says that it has filed a complaint of attacks against doctors at Omdurman hospital, in Sudan’s second city, where doctors were severely beaten during a robbery.