After the arrest of four midwives over the death of a patient in a hospital in northern Senegal, health unions have decided to show solidarity.
The health professionals are entering into a showdown with the State. They have declared a general strike starting this Thursday, April 21, to protest against the detention of four of their colleagues, cited in the case of the death of Astou Sokhna.
Astou Sokhna, 34 years old and nine months pregnant, gave birth earlier this month at the maternity ward of the regional hospital in Louga, in northern Senegal. After several hours without assistance, according to her husband, she died. Her family denounced her death as a result of denial of care after a long agony, although the hospital had concluded that she died naturally.
Since then, the popular and media clamor has been directed at health professionals, particularly midwives, who are often accused of negligence and poor reception of patients.
On this drama, the Head of State asked the competent services to “shed light” on this matter. Beforehand, he had signed the decree dismissing the director of the hospital in question. An audit mission by the Ministry of Health and a self-referral by the prosecutor were also announced.
Faced with what it describes as “contempt,” the Collective of Health and Social Action Workers (CTSAS) announced yesterday, in front of the press, a of 24-hour “general strike” starting this Thursday throughout the territory. The union specifies that this strike will be observed “with respect for emergencies and minimum service.”
Working conditions
“We are fighting for our rights, our dignity and respect for our noble profession,” said Amadou Yeri Camara, spokesman for CTSAS. He denounced the non-respect of the presumption of innocence by some media and authorities and the “larceny” of the prosecutor’s office “by putting four of the six accused women under arrest, two of whom are pregnant and one of whom has a heart condition.”
At the hospital in Louga, the agents are the most radical since they have declared a three-day strike. However, the CTSAS notes that the “duration of the struggle will depend on (…) the treatment of this case Astou Sokhna and that of our claim platforms by the State of Senegal.”
These claims particularly concern their allowances and working conditions. Contacted by APA, a nurse working in a health center in the east of the country finds them “execrable.” “We work in difficult conditions. Logistics are lacking in some structures where we do not even have an ambulance to evacuate patients. Some buildings are threatening to collapse,” he said.
In the Council of Ministers yesterday Wednesday, President Macky Sall stressed, however, that the significant investments in the health system “must be accompanied by a paradigm shift that translates into respect for the patient and user satisfaction.” He referred to the construction of “latest generation” hospitals in four cities in the interior of the country (Touba, Kaffrine, Kedougou and Sedhiou) and the recruitment of a thousand agents, among others.
President Sall has therefore asked his Minister of Health “to finalize the audit of the governance of health structures in order to accelerate the reforms necessary for the optimal implementation of the investment program (2020-2024) for a resilient and efficient health system.”
ODL/cgd/fss/abj/APA