Doctors go on strike in Turkey

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) – According to the decision taken by Turkish Doctors Union (TTB), health personnel working in hospitals of Istanbul went on strike to draw attention to the problems in the field of health in Turkey.

Doctors and other medical personnel who gathered in the garden of Sisli Etfal Hospital protested the source allocated by the government to the health in the 2004 budget.

They shouted slogans saying "no to public pillage" and they carried banners written "our wages have to increase" "we won’t permit sale of our hospitals under the name of reform" on them.

The trade union members commented that "the 2004 budget didn’t meet the expectations of the health service, didn’t improve the personnel rights of the medical personnel and it didn’t include health policies which will overcome the inequality among regions."

The medical personnel working in emergency rooms of the hospitals didn’t go on strike, while doctors in other departments explained the problems in the sector and asked citizens to support them.

The strike of the medical personnel in Ankara’s hospitals also continues.

Medical personnel who took part in the strike don’t serve patients except emergency cases in hospitals of Ankara.

Doctors who convened in the garden of SSK Dıskapı Hospital told reporters that their working hours were more than working hours in other hospitals, adding that they worked more, but they were paid less. The medical personnel later started walking to Numune Hospitals carrying banners written "we want job assurance," and "equal payment for equal work" on them.

The medical personnel working in hospitals of Ankara will convene in front of Health Ministry at 12.30.