Darfur hospital fires ‘out of line’ doctors

Four doctors have been fired for their participation in a strike at Ed Daein Hospital in East Darfur, on Monday. They had also made calls to declare the spread of cholera.

The administration of Ed Daein Hospital terminated the services of Dr Mohamed El Hadi, El Teib El Hadi, Mutwakil Adam and Sand El Hamagi.

Dr El Hadi told Radio Dabanga that they received word from the administration by letters on 3 July. He attributed the reason to their participation in a strike which lasted one day and took place in the middle of Ramadan this year, demanding financial rights.

“We filed a memorandum in the middle of Ramadan and gave it to the hospital's administration, the Ministry of Health in East Darfur, and the security apparatus. The next day we went on strike.”

This prompted the Ministry of Health, the medical director and the state civil service coordinator to meet the strikers' demands as stipulated in the memorandum for 70 percent.

The doctors think that another reason for firing them was their call to announce the cholera epidemic, transfer the isolation ward to outside of Ed Daein to protect residents from contracting the disease, and spread awareness about cholera prevention and treatment.

“We wanted to break through the information blackout the government has held. The hospital administration targeted us for making these demands, and decided to end our contracts.”

El Hadi believes another reason for firing them was that he and his colleagues were active in the days of the outbreak of hepatitis B in the state. They accompanied a medical convoy and awareness-raising campaign to villages.

Cholera comments

In June, the Ministry of Health dismissed the director of the Omdurman Emergency Hospital because he reported about cholera patients. The government so far has refused to call the epidemic by its name, cholera.