Sudan doctors threaten strike over attacks on health workers

Sudanese medical doctors have threatened to go on a strike to protest the repeated attacks on health workers on duty.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday May 22, 2020, by the Unified Office of Doctors, the Legitimate Union of Doctors and the Committee of Specialists and Consultants

The medical doctors summoned the country’s prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdok, to guarantee their protection against assaults, enact a legislation that ensures their safety and take measures against their attackers.

The statement gave the Sudanese authorities until Saturday evening to implement their demands, threatening that doctors would otherwise withdraw collectively from hospitals and go on strike.

“If this legislation is not enacted now, you will all bear the consequences,” the doctors added in their statement.

This rise in attacks coincides with local and international fears of a possible collapse of the Sudanese health sector amid the spread of the coronavirus, especially given the shortage of medical protective equipment, which caused a number of medical staff to contract the virus.

Doctors have repeatedly complained about the rise in attacks on them while on duty by patients’ relatives or army personnel.