Mohamed Abdullah - Cairo

After describing them as the White Army and their advancement in the front lines in the face of the outbreak of the new Corona virus (Covid-19), and the injury of dozens of them due to infection and the death of two cases, the Egyptian Medical Syndicate demanded that the wounded and deceased corona of medical teams be equated with the victims of war and security operations.

In light of what Egyptians see as favoritism from the authority of the army and the police, the parliament in March 2018 passed a law to establish the "Martyrs and Victims of Military Operations" fund, which aims to honor the victims of war, terrorist and security operations and their families, and to support and care for them in all social, health, educational, and other aspects.

Despite the large role assigned to what has become known as the "White Army" in confronting the Corona virus, the Egyptian government refuses to increase the infection allowance for doctors, which ranges between 19 and 30 pounds (less than two dollars), despite the occurrence of a category such as judges - and they are not exposed to infection - On an allowance exceeding 3 thousand pounds.

In an attempt to appease the medical teams, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi agreed a few days ago to increase the medical profession allowance by 75%, which ranges between 400 and 700 pounds (the dollar = 15.7 pounds).


Equality of the White Army

The Medical Syndicate called on the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mustafa Madbouly, to treat anyone wounded or killed by the Corona medical team as treatment of war wounded and martyrs, especially as the law gives the Prime Minister the addition of other cases to the Military Operations Victims Fund, based on the proposal of the competent minister.

The union said that there are many doctors who were infected with the Corona virus while performing their work to protect the country from this virus, some of which transmitted it to his family, while others met his Lord as a martyr of the infection.

The union statement added that the doctors ’effort is invaluable and no financial compensation can compensate them or their families for serious illness or loss of life, except that the expected state of theirs and their important role will increase their feeling and safety and belonging to their families, as they are the first line of defense for the nation in its war On the risks of diseases and infections.

Egyptian parliamentarians expressed solidarity with the demands of the Physicians Syndicate in treating them all "as the families of the martyrs of the army and the police", in appreciation and gratitude for their sacrifices and courage in their war against the Corona virus, after repeated injuries and deaths in the medical staff.

The least possible
Parliament member Ismail Nasreddin said that the doctors are making great efforts in the recent crisis, and that the families of those who die as a result of this virus are included in the law the least that the parliament can offer these men, who have proven that they are responsible and that they are soldiers on the battlefield.

Corona injuries at the National Cancer Institute of Cairo University increased to 33 cases, including three doctors, 20 nursing staff and some workers, as well as six of the families of the injured, according to local newspapers.

With the outbreak of Corona, many hospitals went out of service, the last of which was the National Heart Institute in Cairo after a virus was infected, while workers at the French University Hospital in Tanta refused to work, calling for the hospital to be closed, sterilized, and those in contact with the Corona case confirmed.


Legitimate demands

Ahmed Shousha, Commissioner of the General Syndicate for the Defense of Doctors, and a decision of the Syndicate’s Legal Committee and Freedoms, said, “The Syndicate’s demand to equate medical personnel with casualties and martyrs of war operations has nothing to do with its basic requirement to increase the allowance for infection. The new demand is in the event of injury and death. The state of life and continuing work. "

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Shousha stressed that the increase in the medical profession allowance is not sufficient at all, and is not commensurate with the size of the risk faced by doctors, who are in the first and direct lines in the face of infectious diseases, and demanded that the minimum allowance for infection be 1000 pounds, and later increase it to 3000 pounds.

In response to some comment that it cost the state treasury billions of pounds, Shusha said that "the infection allowance is the protection of the health system in society represented by the health of the doctor, and it is a budget for the benefit of the whole people, and not a class or exceptional budget."


Revealing pandemic

Former Deputy Minister of the Egyptian Ministry of Health, Mostafa Gawish, says that the announcement by the World Health Organization of the Corona pandemic also carried out the recommendation to pay attention to the health and safety of the medical team and support it.

He added, "But after that, we saw the cries of distress from doctors and nurses in Egypt, who complain of an acute shortage of means to prevent infection, and the fall of the members of the medical team under the weight of infection."

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Gawish pointed out that the injuries affected all Egyptian governorates from Aswan in the south to Damietta, Alexandria and Port Said in the north, and from health hospitals to university hospitals, passing through Al-Azhar University, health insurance hospitals, and a number of private hospitals.

"And under the weight of that suffering, and the members of the medical team continue to work in an insecure work environment, we see al-Sisi as if he resented the launch of the term white army, to announce among a crowd of soldiers that the army is the striking force against Corona, and that he has enough strategic reserves And the indication was clear that Egypt has an army that reigns over the state and what is in it, and there is no consolation for those who rejoiced as a white army.

However, the Egyptians took the initiative to advocate for the medical and nursing staff, as Twitterers interacted with the # Save the Doctors_Egypt to provide the necessary protection for medical staff from infection while facing the emerging Corona virus, in light of the shortage of some hospital supplies and the low value of the infection allowance.