2024-10-24 16:23:00
“The doctor is neglected, the patient is in danger. » Also this week the students of the Faculty of Medicine of Algiers made their voices heard. Gathered within the confines of the huge, brand-new campus located in the Ben Aknoun neighborhood, future doctors, pharmacists and dentists expressed their anger for the seventh consecutive day at authorities trying to show off.
«We will not resume classes until our requests are fully met.», promises Inès (name has been changed). In his seventh year of medical school he participated in his first strike. During her long studies, this young citizen from the center of the country, with white, curly hair, says she encountered a cascade of problems: insufficient practical training, overload of faculty and, for some time, a wider opening of the medical sector, previously reserved for the cream of graduates. Like many of her classmates, she fears finding herself unemployed and, above all, without a qualification.
“Limit departures abroad”
On strike in various faculties across the country, medical students are denouncing the delays in the authentication of new medical diplomas. A measure taken by the government with the aim of curbing the flight of Algerian doctors abroad, particularly to France.
A “sanction” assumed by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research: Kamel Baddari indicated at the beginning of the summer, to the National Assembly, that this “provisional measure” targeted, inside “waiting to find a solution”, ha “limit departures abroad” doctors. According to estimates, every year at least 2 thousand Algerian students go abroad, mainly for salary reasons.
Because despite the government’s efforts to increase the remuneration of a category described by President Tebboune as“white army”general practitioners in the public sector start their career with around 400 euros net per month. A low salary compared to that of neighboring countries. Added to this is the deemed insufficient number of resident positions open each year.
To try to calm the strikers, the Minister of Higher Education received student representatives on 19 October. But apart from immediate bonuses for trainees, he was content to set up study committees, in particular on the establishment of limited numbers in medical fields. As regards the authentication of diplomas, time has been given until 15 December “study requests” carried out online. Promises “insufficient” for Inès and her companions, who demand “concrete answers”.
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