Mozambique’s health minister has accused doctors of violating “minimum services” during a class strike that has been going on for more than a week, noting that this omission is a violation of the Constitution of the Republic.
“Minimum services is a constitutional requirement, it is not an option for an attacker, it is a constitutional issue,” Armindo Thiago said in an interview with public broadcaster Rádio Moçambique (RM) on Monday.
The official noted that the Mozambique Medical Association (AMM) made sure that essential services in Mozambican hospitals were not affected by the 21-day strike.
“In some sectors, in some medical institutions, we see that the Mozambique Medical Association does not meet the minimum service requirements,” the Minister of Health accused.
The Center for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican non-governmental organization (NGO), this week considered the strikes affecting the public administration as a warning to the country to pass a minimum service law aimed at realizing the general forecast set by the Constitution of the Republic.
According to the CIP, it is precisely in the case of physicians who “exercise their constitutionally enshrined right to strike” that the government has resorted to palliative measures, such as hiring trainees or resorting to military doctors, since the duty of SNA physicians a priori guarantees a minimum of services.
“It should be noted that minimum services cannot jeopardize the right to strike, so when enacted, they should only be those necessary to ensure public peace (…) The constitutional legal provision of the right to strike in Mozambique should be an indication on the need for legislation on minimum services aimed at ensuring the continuity of the provision of essential services,” explains the CIP lawyer.
In an interview he gave to RM, Mozambique’s health minister reiterated that the government had already granted doctors’ short-term demands, ensuring that all complaints would be dealt with by November.
On Monday, the AMM expressed concern over the government’s silence on the strike, which has already ended a week without agreement between both sides.
“The silence of the government worries us, but it was predictable. Last year we had about seven days during which the government remained silent, and only after that we returned to the negotiating table. This is not unpredictable silence,” the AMM spokesman said. press secretary Napoleon Henriquez Viola at a press conference in Beira (center of the country), hinting at a lack of understanding between the parties.
These professionals are protesting against wage cuts and non-payment of overtime, among other things, which have led to increased waiting times for patients at various medical facilities in the country.