The position was expressed by the Secretary of State for the Hospital Area, Leonardo European, who has been negotiating with the National Union of Doctors of Angola.
According to Leonardo European, the claim file presented in September by the union, "deserved a timely response", noting that negotiations began on December 1st.
"The union called an assembly in which the resolution to carry out the strike on the 6th was decided, even so the Ministry of Health reacted, inviting the union for negotiations, which took place since the 1st, it was the first day of negotiations, we approached point 1 and 2 of the notebook", he referred.
Regarding the first claim, the immediate replacement of the union president, as well as the nullity of the disciplinary process that took place at the David Bernardino Pediatric Hospital, the government official said that it had already been met, with the passage of two guides for its reclassification in the Lucrécia Paim Maternity Hospital or Américo Boavida Hospital, at your choice.
"On the second day we were debating points numbers three, four, five and six, which have to do with the salary issue and subsidies, we had the participation of technicians from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security , and these points were left to be taken to the holders of the portfolio to subsequently find a way for the issue of salary resolution of professionals", he stressed.
According to Leonardo European, they were informed that the Ministry of Finance is working for the salary increase in a global way, the issue of subsidies and the approach of the Income Tax, increased hours and other matters.
"But surprisingly, on Thursday night they practically left us at the [negotiating] table, because they felt that the Ministry of Health's proposal for point one did not favor the president," he said.
Leonardo European underlined that when you are in negotiations you cannot go on strike, considering that this is an attitude "against dialogue".
"We know the intention, we have here to say that we have already passed point number one, it is outdated, because today we have passed the guides, there are two for immediate placement in units that are subordinate to the Ministry of Health, as is the case Lucrécia Paim maternity hospital, as well as Américo Boavida Hospital, as a second option", he added.
The choice of these two hospitals, continued the Secretary of State, responds to the qualities of the president of the National Union of Physicians, who is a specialist pediatrician, assistant physician in Grade A and professor.
"We appeal to the medical profession to be united, in the good sense, we are not saying that the claim is meaningless, but we are working and at the moment we are only depending on the decision of Dr. Adriano [union president], that is to say whether it still exists strike just because of point one we've already done it, here are the two past guides", he stressed.
The list of claims presents as one of the first demands, the immediate replacement of the president of the National Union of Doctors of Angola, his compensation for the damage caused by his transfer to the Human Resources of the Ministry of Health and the nullity of the disciplinary process.
The aforementioned disciplinary proceeding was brought against the pediatrician for denouncing to the press the death of 19 children out of 24 in the emergency room of the Pediatric Hospital David Bernardino, having been transferred to the Human Resources department of the Ministry of Health, justified with the need for staff mobility.
"Point one was resolved, two, three, four, five and six as well, reasons for the strike are being dissipated, we have an open agenda so that tomorrow [Tuesday] at 3:00 pm we resume negotiations, we appeal to the medical profession to go back to work, to their work positions, to appeal once again to the code of deontology and medical ethics, the Hippocratic Oath, so that our population is not a victim of individual desires to represent the professional classes," he said.
The Angolan government official criticized the fact that supposedly the minimum services defined by law were not being guaranteed during the strikes.
"We have something to draw attention to, there are issues that must be met during the strike, which is the non-cancellation of the minimum services, which includes hospitalization, a call to attention to colleagues, an operated patient who is in hospital can complicate at some point, there may be hemorrhage, infection, other issues, an appeal to those who studied medicine, who feel the health needs of our population to return to work positions," he urged.
Leonardo European said that the Government has been improving working conditions and infrastructure, with new equipment, including magnetic resonance equipment, laboratory and ultrasound, in addition to increasing the number of professionals with the admission of over 28,000 professionals.
