The Doctors Syndicate will send a delegation to the cabinet on 19 September to call for increasing the infections allowance, the syndicate said in a statement.
The State Council Administrative Court ratified a decision in June that would increase the infections allowance for doctors from EGP 19 to EGP 1,000. The cabinet has not yet implemented the decision.
The syndicate sent a number of letters to the Health Ministry, parliament, the cabinet, and the presidency to call for implementing the verdict, but there were no responses.
Mohamed Shawky, the syndicate’s legal consultant, told Daily News Egypt that according to Article 123 of the penal code, any civil servant that does not implement a court decision is penalised with expulsion from his or her position and imprisoned.
The syndicate did not yet disclose any intentions of proceeding with the legal action, according to Shawky.
The syndicate, however, launched an internal survey among its members in an attempt to undertake a unified move towards the delay in increasing the allowance. Mona Mina, the syndicate’s secretary general, said that sending a delegation to cabinet received the highest number of votes.
The syndicate delegation’s attempt to visit the cabinet was not a scheduled meeting between both sides. The syndicate informed the cabinet of the visit in a letter, saying that “the syndicate hopes that the Prime Minister has enough time to meet with the delegation.”
In November 2015, the Administrative Court of the State Council issued the initial verdict of increasing the infections allowance to EGP 1,000, following the death of many doctors who contracted serious infections at work.
The cabinet issued an appeal against the verdict, claiming that the allocated budget is insufficient for the compensation increase. However, the court rejected the appeal in early June.
Over the past three years, at least six doctors have died due to contracting an infection in their line of work, according to the syndicate census.
