Anger over police action against protesting resident doctors

The National Union of Mauritanian Students and several professional health organisations have condemned the police for using force to disperse a peaceful demonstration in the capital Nouakchott, organised by the Union of Resident Doctors (Le Syndicat National des Médecins Résidents), or SNMR, at the Place de la Liberté in front of the parliament buildings.

Mohamed Hamady Sidihelballa, the assistant secretary general for external relations of the National Union of Mauritanian Students, or UNEM (the French acronym), told University World News the union was ready to defend the rights of the doctors who were protesting over unmet demands related to their job conditions and education.

In a statement, UNEM criticised the authorities for their reluctance to find solutions to the doctors’ demands.

“We call on the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research as well as the Ministry of Health to … enter into a dialogue with the SNMR representatives to resolve the students’ problems and meet their demands,” UNEM said.

“We emphasise the necessity to raise the academic and service levels for resident doctors in general and to provide them with all requirements for professional practice in hospitals,” UNEM added.

A Mauritanian resident doctor is a medical school graduate and a doctor in training who is taking part in a graduate medical education programme at the end of seven years of medical studies.

Residents work at hospitals to continue their education and training in a specialised field of medicine for three to seven years, depending on the speciality, a period known as a residency or postgraduate training.

Mauritania has only one medical school, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Nouakchott Al Aasriya, according to the World Directory of Medical Schools.

Resident doctors’ demands

The SNMR sent a letter to the minister of health in which the union repeated its willingness to participate in “constructive dialogue” and its openness to any proposals that could facilitate its members’ access to their rights and contribute to a satisfactory outcome for all parties.

However, given an apparent unwillingness by the authorities to negotiate, the SNMR decided to strike, starting from 22 April until its demands are met.

According to the SNMR, the strike “paralysed the work of hospitals and caused crowds and pressure in the services of many hospitals” in Nouakchott.

The resident doctors’ demands include direct recruitment into the civil service at the end of their training and the establishment of a coherent training system for resident doctors, with well-defined educational objectives, as well as a pathway to obtain masters and doctoral degrees in all specialities, which should be offered by various departments in the faculty of medicine.

In addition, the SNMR demands that a delegate participate in a meeting with the faculty’s heads of departments on transfers between hospitals and theoretical and practical courses for all specialisations, with a clear system from the next academic year. The residents also demand a salary increase and better conditions of service, including one month of annual leave and 90 days of maternity leave.

Solidarity

The union for general practitioners in Mauritania (the French acronym is MGDS) issued a statement saying it condemned the police’s attack on peaceful protesters.

“This unacceptable behaviour reflects a disregard for human rights and the principles of freedom of expression and assembly,” MGDS noted.

“We stress the importance of respecting the rights and dignity of doctors and health-sector workers, and we demand an immediate and fair investigation into this incident, and that those responsible be held accountable,” the MGDS said.

The union for Mauritanian medical specialists (the French acronym is MMSS) also issued a statement denouncing police repression of protesting resident doctors.

“We declare our unconditional support for this health movement and call on all health and labour unions to stand against this unprecedented repression of Mauritanian resident doctors, who are considered a fundamental pillar of the hospital health pyramid in our country, and we consider it an attack on all medical staff,” MMSS said.

Furthermore, the unions for general practitioners and specialists, together with the National Union of Public Health and the Mauritanian Union of Senior Health Technicians held a solidarity protest at Place de la Liberté (Freedom Square) on 25 April.

“We hope that this peaceful stand will be a step towards achieving [the resident doctors’] just demands and achieving justice,” according to a statement about the event.

University World News’ efforts to obtain comments from the Mauritanian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Health were unsuccessful.