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Sudan doctors to go on strike

The undated photo shows Madani hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.

Doctors in Sudan will go on strike on Thursday in protest against low wages, work conditions and attacks by security forces.

"From tomorrow doctors across all government hospitals will be on strike," the Federal Committee of Doctors said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement said doctors in more than 350 government hospitals would take part in the strike. The medics “will attend only emergency cases.”

According to the statement, scores of doctors had already stopped working at some hospitals in the capital Khartoum.

Reports said several doctors were seen wearing badges that read, "Doctors on strike," at two government hospitals in Khartoum on Wednesday, where they were only handling emergency cases.

"We are also demanding better training and medical equipment at government hospitals," the committee said.

The doctors are demanding a pay raise and better services and security at government hospitals.

The strike comes amid reports of repeated attacks against doctors by security forces.

Sudan's public health system is notorious for poor facilities and under-paid medical professionals.

The number of private health facilities has increased in the African country in recent years. There are more than 1,400 private hospitals.

Sudan has been grappling with violence since 2003, when ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose against President Omar al-Bashir, accusing his Arab-dominated government of marginalizing the region.

There has also been tribal fighting in the region.

Some 2.5 million people have been displaced in Darfur, according to the latest UN figures, which also show that over 300,000 people have died there since violence began.


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