Paraguay
Health and doctors will hold a tripartite meeting to try to avert September strike
The new Health Minister, Isaías Fretes, announced a meeting with the doctors' union and the Ministry of Labor for Tuesday. The talks seek to defuse a conflict that has a strike scheduled for September 21 and 22.
The Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Labor and the union of doctors in the public sector will hold a tripartite meeting this Tuesday at 11:00 to try to channel the conflict in the health system and avoid the strike scheduled for September 21 and 22, according to ABC Color.
According to that outlet, the meeting was announced by the new Health Minister, Isaías Fretes, who took office after the departure of María Teresa Barán. The change at the ministry came amid criticism of the government over the lack of agreement with doctors and the resignation of hundreds of specialists in recent weeks.
ABC Color reported that the National Doctors’ Union announced a new strike after a nationwide action held in August. Among the sector’s demands are a salary adjustment, better working conditions and improvements in the supply of inputs and medicines in public hospitals.
According to that newspaper, Fretes said he was willing to prioritize dialogue and told the press that he knows the hospital reality through his professional background. However, he declined to say what specific proposals the Ministry of Health will bring to the negotiating table.
The union questions why the base salary for medical professionals, about 5 million guaraníes, has not been updated since 2012. They argue that, if that income had risen at the pace of the minimum wage, it should now be around 8 million guaraníes, according to ABC Color.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
