Health: And Gueusseum denounces salary delays and threatens to intensify the mobilization

The standoff between the Ministry of Health and the health sector unions continues. In a statement released on November 10, 2026, And Gueusseum denounced the recurring delays in the payment of salaries to contract workers and welcomed the rejection of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene's (MSHP) draft budget. The union also maintained its call for a total strike on November 19 and 20.

And Gueusseum is raising its voice in response to the delays in salary payments to contract workers at the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene. In a statement signed by its Executive Board, the Alliance of Autonomous Health Unions deems this situation "intolerable," denouncing the recurring delays, particularly during the last quarter of each year.

The union maintains that paying wages is a legal obligation of the state, which cannot shirk its responsibilities. It believes that contract workers, already facing the precariousness of their fixed-term contracts (CDDs), repeatedly renewed under often questionable conditions, should not suffer further consequences from what it describes as an improvised budgetary strategy.

And Gueusseum also highlights the particular difficulties faced by staff assigned to remote, isolated, insecure, or island areas. This situation, according to the union, compromises their peace of mind at work and could affect the quality of patient care.

The trade union also holds the Minister of Health responsible for the concerted work stoppage by contract workers, which it considers to be the direct consequence of chronic and unjustified delays in the payment of wages.

A health budget deemed largely insufficient

Regarding the rejection of the draft budget of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, And Gueusseum expresses his satisfaction, while deploring the inadequacy of the financial resources proposed for the sector.

The union notes that the allocation of 246 billion CFA francs, planned on a national budget of around 7,000 billion CFA francs, represents approximately 13,000 CFA francs per inhabitant for a population estimated at 19 million Senegalese in 2027.

An allocation deemed far from the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), which advocates 9% of national budgets for health, or about 630 billion CFA francs in the case of Senegal, according to estimates put forward by the union.

And Gueusseum also recalls the commitment made by African heads of state in Abuja in 2001 to allocate 15% of national budgets to health financing. According to his calculations, implementing this commitment would bring the sector's budget to approximately 1,050 billion CFA francs.

Social liabilities at the heart of the demands

Beyond the issue of budgetary resources, And Gueusseum is bringing back to the table the settlement of the social liability arising from the 2022 agreements on the remuneration system for agents.

The organization states that it will reject any draft budget, whether initial or amended, that does not allocate the necessary resources to meet these commitments. It particularly emphasizes the payment of housing allowances to contract workers in public health facilities, as well as to local government employees working in the health and social services sectors.

Total strike on November 19th and 20th

In this statement, And Gueusseum calls on its activists to maintain mobilization in accordance with the directives of its 19th action plan. This plan notably includes a total strike on November 19 and 20, 2026, accompanied by the withholding of health and social data.

The union believes this latest measure has already placed the Minister of Health in an uncomfortable position. It also mentions the recurring epidemics and the "Louga disease," which it presents not as a mysterious phenomenon, but as a symptom of the limitations of research in a healthcare system where, in its view, this sector remains neglected.

In conclusion, And Gueusseum calls for maintaining total mobilization, constant vigilance and unwavering determination in the face of what it considers persistent shortcomings of the government.

The standoff with health authorities is therefore far from over.