Drafted work condition law protested by Egyptian Doctors

The bill, proposed by the Health Ministry and dubbed the “Doctors Professional Development Law,” stipulates that doctors pursuing post-graduate studies will be fully responsible for all financial expenses associated with their studies, training, accommodations and transportation to any medical events or conferences they might attend.

“Although the government claims it is trying to enhance doctors’ skills through this bill, the draft law actually imposes new, unaffordable financial burdens on doctors,” said syndicate spokesman Dr. Said Sayyed.

If the draft is approved by parliament, doctors will be required to receive 250 hours of medical training over the course of five years, or else his or her syndicate membership will be temporarily suspended based on the number of missed hours. According to DWR’s Dr. Mona Mina, doctors will face one month of suspension for every two hours of training missed.

“We aren’t against doctors’ professional development, but the government should take steps to remove such obstacles,” said Dr. Mina. “In fact we have already launched the National Training Institute in 2002, in addition to training departments all over the country” she asked.

Dr. Mina urged a greater degree of coordination between these authorities in an effort to provide better training services for doctors, while also saving money with which to supply notoriously under-equipped government hospitals.

Nevertheless, she expressed some optimism following a meeting with syndicate head Dr. Hamdi el-Sayyed, pointing out that the latter had agreed to discuss the bill’s more controversial articles on March 26

Last month, 350 doctors signed a petition addressed to the syndicate expressing their concerns over the proposed legislation.

In March 2008, Egyptian doctors had planned to stage a nationwide strike. But the action was eventually called off by Dr. el-Sayyed and the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement, the latter of which enjoys considerable influence within the syndicate.

“We call for stepped-up protests to condemn doctors’ deteriorating conditions,” said Dr. Sayyed, the syndicate spokesman.