As Egypt’s Doctors’ Syndicate held a general assembly on Friday that attracted thousands of medical professionals to Dar El Hekma in downtown Cairo, the doctors’ array of grievances – from the controversial new health insurance law to recent violent attacks on hospitals – came to the fore. Several doctors who work in different branches of medicine took to the streets to chant against violence, with some tying stethoscopes around their hands to express increasing anger towards the state’s reluctance to handle the attacks on the Matareya Teaching Hospital earlier last month. Nine policemen attacked doctors Mohamed Abdelaziz and Ahmed El Sayed for refusing to falsify a policeman’s medical report. The policemen were held on charges for violence but later were released on bail. The assembly was organized in an effort to highlight the doctors’ demands, including the protection of hospitals all around the country from acts of violence and the prosecution of the policemen responsible for the Matareya Teaching Hospital attack. At the assembly, 44 percent of the doctors in attendance supported a partial strike until demands are met, while 56 voted in favor of doctors working without receiving any…
