NGO says that repeated PR practices lead to "acts of corruption"

In a public statement regarding the doctors' strike, the association, which is an observer member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, says that, within the scope of its attributions and competences, "it has followed with considerable attention and concern the various events that , in a cyclical and recurrent way, they happen throughout the country".

Among the various events, he emphasizes that the President of the Republic and holder of the executive power has promoted acts of "corruption and embezzlement" through the direct award of voluminous contracts to group convenience companies, namely Omatapalo, "in a clear exercise of abuse of power".

For AJPD, the year 2021 was also marked by the scourge of drought in the southern region of the country, witnessing "with resignation and anguish the death of young children and elderly people due to lack of food".

"In view of the catastrophe that devastates the southern region, the AJPD is indignant at the lack of sensitivity shown by the MPLA [Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola], the party that supports the executive and holds the majority in parliament, which, given the facts, guided its president to make a clean sweep of the suffering of the population, denying the existence of the problem", reads the statement.

The AJPD also draws the attention of the national and international community to the fact that the executive, through its ministerial department responsible for managing health policy, "is turning a blind eye to the problems plaguing the health sector, under the false pretext to fight covid-19".

According to the association, "in an authoritarian and arrogant way" all attention has been turned to the pandemic, "without, however, having ever explained to the nation all the logistical intricacies used so far in the campaign, especially in terms of services outsourced".

Regarding the situation of doctors, the non-governmental organization is concerned due to the struggle between the Union of Doctors and the Ministry of Health and the lack of interest on the part of the executive in resolving the dispute.

"The AJPD is in solidarity with the Union of Physicians and appeals not to compromise its rights and its claims, especially with regard to the Right to Freedom of Association, under penalty of creating a precedent and discrediting the medical profession", it highlights in the statement, about the strike that the doctors carried out between the 6th and the 19th of this month.

The organization urges the executive "to look to health as a fundamental and indispensable element for the country's development", also appealing to "all physicians, who are indecisive, to join the cause of the Union of Doctors".