Sudan doctors to hold nationwide strike

Sudanese doctors are planning a nationwide strike on Thursday to demand higher wages, protection from security forces and better services at government hospitals, their association said.

The Federal Committee of Doctors said doctors at more than 350 government hospitals would stop work.

"From tomorrow doctors across all government hospitals will be on strike," the committee said in a statement on Wednesday. 

"They will attend only emergency cases."

It said dozens of doctors had already stopped working at certain facilities in Khartoum.

An AFP correspondent saw several doctors at two government hospitals in Khartoum on Wednesday wearing badges saying "Doctors on strike".

They said they were only dealing with emergency cases.

The committee said Thursday's strike was a protest at low wages, deteriorating services at government hospitals and a rise in attacks on doctors by security forces and relatives of patients.

"We are also demanding better training and medical equipment at government hospitals," it said.

In recent weeks, Sudanese media reported several attacks against doctors by policemen and angry relatives of patients.

Sudan's public health system suffers from poor facilities and under-paid medical staff. 

Private health facilities have mushroomed in Sudan in recent years, and the country has more than 1,400 private hospitals.