Egypt's doctors protest for better pay

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian doctors staged a protest on Saturday outside their union headquarters in Cairo to demand better pay amid national anger over skyrocketing food prices.

"We will hold a protest for one hour to demand better salaries and better conditions for doctors," Hamdi al-Sayyed, head of the doctors' syndicate, said before the protest began, adding that similar demonstrations would be held across the country.

"The average salary for a graduating doctor now is 220 Egyptian pounds (40 dollars, 25 euros) per month which doesn't buy very much," told AFP.

The syndicate is demanding the average monthly wage be raised to at least 1,200 Egyptian pounds (219 dollars, 140 euros) and the government has pledged to review the situation.

Sayyed said there...