The Doctors’ Syndicate described the court ruling to increase the doctors’ infection allowance as “historical” and said they will take all necessary steps to start its implementation.
Egypt’s Administrative Court accepted on Saturday a lawsuit from the Doctors’ Syndicate to increase the allowance for infections contracted by doctors while on the job. Doctors were previously entitled to an infection allowance that ranges between EGP 19 and EGP 30 if they were infected during their work.
The syndicate will take all required legal actions to inform the government about the court ruling, according to a statement issued by the syndicate on Saturday. The government will then have to issue an executive decision to enforce the ruling. “The court ruling needs collective efforts from the syndicate and the doctors until it is applied,” the statement read.
Assistant Secretary-General of the Doctor’s Syndicate Rashwan Shaaban told Daily News Egypt they will send the executive formula of the ruling to the adversary sides within 60 days. “In case they do not respond, other actions will be taken,” Shaaban said.
The court acknowledged the doctors’ right to receive an infection allowance and abolished the formerly contested decision, which called to reject the syndicate’s demands to increase the allowance. The verdict said the Egyptian constitution compels the state to improve the doctor’s financial situation and the current allowance is not proportional to the dangers faced by doctors.
“The people revolted in two revolutions against the injustice and inequality, asking for social justice for all factions. Fulfilling the demands of people and ensuring them a decent living standard achieves social justice and national security,” the statement read, quoting the court ruling.
The syndicate filed a case in April 2014 against then president, prime minister, and ministers of health and of housing, demanding an infection allowance of a minimum of 40% of the salary or EGP 1,000.
Although the court obliged the state to increase the infection allowance, they did not specify the percentage of the increase.
“The court did not specify an amount but it ruled with increasing the allowance while complying with our demands, which basically means that we were granted the EGP 1,000 we demanded,” Shaaban said.
The court, however, rejected the approval of a treatment allowance of EGP 3,000 due to the absence of a legislative base that allows such a verdict. “The syndicate needs to submit a bill to the new parliament to issue a law that approves the doctors’ right to treatment allowance,” Shaaban said.
The ruling comes amid growing calls from the doctors to improve their working conditions by applying standards of infection control and upholding safety standards at public hospitals after the death of Dalia Mehrez, a doctor who died from meningitis after she got infected during her work.
