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MAPUTO, May 13 (BERNAMA-NNN-AIM) -- The Mozambican Medical Association (AMM), which represents the country's doctors, has accused the government of failing to comply with the memorandum it signed with the AMM in January which ended a nine-day doctors' strike.

In the memorandum, it was agreed that doctors and trainee doctors would suffer no reprisal for joining the strike action, a differentiated wage scale for public sector workers would take effect from April this year and a Statute of Doctors be approved in the first sitting in 2013 of the Mozambican Parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.

Addressing a Maputo press conference here Friday following an AMM extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday, AMM director of programmes Liliana Pinto accused the government of violating all these points.

Reprisals had been taken against trainee doctors, she said, referring to the decision by Maputo's Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) to fail medical students who had joined the strike on the grounds that they had not complied with their academic obligations.

The AMM also accuses the government of introducing an article into the draft Statute of Doctors which would oblige any doctor or dentist trained in Mozambican public universities to work for the National Health Service for a period equal to or longer than their training period.

Pinto said this article should be included in the regulation on scholarships, so that only those medical students who obtained scholarships would be obliged to work in the National Health Service.

Asked if there could be a second strike by doctors, Pinto said: "We are consulting with our colleagues in the provinces and districts. We will make an announcement on this matter shortly."

-- BERNAMA-NNN-AIM

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Mozambican Doctors Accuse Government Of Failing To Keep Its Word