An emergency meeting called by the Egyptian Doctors' Syndicate regarding an ongoing doctors strike in the country was postponed on Friday after not enough members showed up.

Only 300 members showed up for the meeting. Syndicate rules require that 1000 members be present for a general assembly meeting.

The syndicate's secretary-general Mona Mina said that the meeting was intended to discuss whether the doctors' partial strike should be continued or temporarily halted, but no decision could made without the minimum number of required participants.

State doctors have been striking two working days every week to demand higher wages and better working conditions. The partial strikes will continue until the next syndicate meeting, now scheduled for 21 February.

On Thursday, Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour issued a decree regulating the status of health care providers working in state hospitals and institutions.

A spokesman for the health ministry said that the decree offers the system of higher salaries that doctors have long asked for.

However, critics say the decree does not respond to demands as it only adds bonuses and does not increase the basic salary.