Several rights organisations issued a statement Saturday declaring support for the planned doctors strike expected to start 1 October. The statement underlined that striking is a legitimate tool to attain the doctors’ rightful demands, arguing it is the only way to ensure better healthcare in Egypt.

Egypt’s doctors declared at their syndicate’s General Assembly meeting 22 September that they start an open-ended nationwide strike demanding a higher budget allocation dedicated to healthcare and better working conditions for doctors. Meanwhile, they assured that the strike that would start 1 October would not affect emergency rooms, intensive care units, nurseries or kidney dialysis centres.  

Doctors’ demands include increasing the health quota of the state budget to 15 per cent, providing better health services to citizens, ensuring the police guard health facilities, and higher pay.

Amongst the rights organisations who declared their solidarity are the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, the Association for Health and Environmental Development (AHED), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the New Woman Association, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (CESR).    

Others who have expressed solidarity with the doctors' demands and prospective strike action are various socialist groups, the moderate Islamist Wasat Party as well as former presidential hopeful and head of the Arab Doctors' Union Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh.