Published on : 21/04/2022 – 23:01
In Senegal, several health unions and the National Association of Midwives had called for a general strike on Thursday April 21 ” on the whole territory “. They denounce – among other demands – the management of the “Astou Sokhna” affair, named after the pregnant woman who died in childbirth at Louga hospital, about 200 km north of Dakar.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
Not a cat in the waiting room. No one in the work room. The maternity hospital of Aristide le Dantec is deserted this Thursday at the end of the morning. Only emergencies and a minimum service are provided, such as in the radiology department, where Amina Gadiaga Dial, member of And Gueusseum, the alliance of autonomous health unions, is located.
The Astou Sokhna affair was added to their demands on remuneration. “ We stand in solidarity with six midwives from Louga. What we didn’t like was that our Minister of Health hastily declared that there had been ‘negligence’. He should have waited for the end of the judicial inquiry. If there is a problem somewhere, I believe it is because the health system is sick “, denounces Amina Gadiaga Dial.
Astou Sokhna’s family filed a complaint for ” medical negligence “. The Minister of Health spoke of a death “ preventable », and six midwives are being prosecuted, four of whom have been placed under a warrant of committal. But for several organizations, health professionals are victims of a ” lynching ” in this file.
But the strike movement is decried by some citizens, who accuse health professionals of supporting their corporation before the victims. Amina Gadiaga Dial denies it: ” We are not too corporate. We are legalists and we think we are fair. In all systems there are bad apples, but it is not up to us to condemn, it is up to the judge. »
In the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, the Head of State affirmed that ” unprecedented budgetary resources ” had been mobilized to modernize the health system since 2012. President Macky Sall also calls for a ” urgent acceleration » reforms.