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Nurses and healthcare technicians in Morocco will organize a national sit-in on November 14 to protest their working conditions. The demonstration will take place in front of the Ministry of Health’s headquarters in Rabat.
The Movement of Nurses and Healthcare Technicians in Morocco (MITSAM) announced the protest on Monday, October 26.
All nurses and healthcare technicians in Morocco will go on strike on the scheduled date, except for those working in emergency and intensive care services.
The medical professionals are demanding the improvement of their working conditions and an increase in the financial indemnities they receive for the risks their jobs include.
The MITSM is also calling for the creation of a national federation for nurses and healthcare technicians, as well as the establishment of a referential framework for paramedical jobs.
The nurses and healthcare technicians said they are “determined” to express their demands and hope to receive a positive response from Morocco’s Ministry of Health.
The MITSM’s sit-in will come less than two weeks after Moroccan doctors go on a 48-hour national strike.
On November 4-5, all public sector doctors in Morocco, except for those working in emergency and intensive care services, will go on strike.
The doctors will protest the Moroccan government’s “incomprehensible” approach to their demands.
The union of Moroccan public sector doctors also threatened to increase the frequency of strikes if the Ministry of Health does not quickly respond to their calls.
Read also: Morocco’s Public Sector Doctors to Hold 48-Hour Strike in November
Doctors, nurses, and other health professionals in Morocco have called for better wages and working conditions for years. The demands, however, intensified in recent months as the situation in Moroccan hospitals worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, tension escalated after a viral video showed the condition of the Ibn Zohr Hospital in Marrakech. The medical facility lacked beds for patients and equipment for doctors and nurses.
The situation prompted Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb to visit Marrakech and inspect the situation of local hospitals. The minister announced the creation of a field hospital for COVID-19 patients to alleviate pressure from other facilities.
