Moroccan Doctors Go on Strike Over Working Conditions

Rabat – Medical doctors in government hospitals across Morocco will go on strike on July 15th to demand increased security in hospitals and better working conditions.

The doctors, under the banner of the Independent Syndicate of Public Health Doctors (SIMSP), are on strike this Wednesday to denounce what they described as the “deplorable” working conditions and the lack of proper equipment and resources.

SIMSP is a syndicate thats represents the majority of doctors working at government hospitals.

Speaking to news website Telquel.ma, El Mountadar Alaoui, the SIMSP Secretary General, said that reception conditions in government hospitals are’ far from the standard’.

“Equipment is always out of order, we lack medicines, and with the establishment of RAMED [a national health insurance program intended to low income citizens], people ask for more.

Citizens listen to the [Health Minister] Houcine El Ouardi who states that public hospitals are in good shape. But when they arrive to hospitals, they become disappointed and therefore attack the people in the white coats, verbally and sometimes even physically,” he added.

Doctors went on a 24-hour strike in March too, followed by a sit-in outside the Health Ministry, and a protest outside the Parliament. The doctors say the government failed to meet many of their demands despite the many meetings with the Ministry of Health.

The syndicate hopes at least 50 per cent of doctors participate in the strike, but says some doctors will take care of patients and deal with emergency cases.