Mozambique: Doctors will resume strike action – Watch

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Mozambique: Doctors will resume strike action – Watch

3:52 CAT | 15 Jul 2024

Screen grab: Miramar

The Medical Association of Mozambique (AMM) is to resume strike action, the association’s spokesperson accusing the government of lacking interest in resolving their issues.

“Today we had a meeting to assess the state of dialogue with the government and we realised that there is no dialogue taking place. The government is just going around and around. Therefore, we will resume [strike action],” Napoleão Viola told Lusa on Friday.

AMM has been in negotiations with the Mozambican government since August 23, 2023, the date on which it interrupted a strike called on July 10 of that year in protest at salary cuts and lack of payment for overtime.

“There are 23 points that have been on the negotiation table since August, and the government has resolved just six. We will resume the strike – the association will communicate the exact dates soon,” Viola added.

Mozambique’s national health system has faced pressure from multiple directions in the last two years, with employee strikes called first by the Association of Mozambican Doctors as outlined above, and then by the Association of United and Solidary Health Professionals of Mozambique (APSUSM), which recently interrupted its strike, while also threatening resumption.

In an interview with Lusa, last week, APSUSM, which covers around 65,000 health professionals (excluding doctors), classified the situation in the national system as chaotic, cautioning that professionals were working in intolerable conditions.

“The situation remains difficult for us because we are improvising, there are many fixes that we have to make in order to provide the bare minimum of care,” APSUSM general secretary Sheila Chuquela said, warning that her members were also considering going back on strike.

According to the Ministry of Health, Mozambique has a total of 1,778 health units, 107 of which are health posts, three are specialised hospitals, four are central hospitals, seven are general, seven are provincial, 22 are rural and 47 are district hospitals.

Source: Lusa / Miramar