Public health: SUTSAS boycotts strategic consultations initiated by the ministry

The Unified Union of Health and Social Action Workers (SUTSAS) will not participate in the first phase of the "Strategic Dialogues on Health System Reforms" initiated by the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene. The union officially declined the invitation extended to it by the ministerial authority.

In a letter dated August 3, 2026, the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene invited the sector's trade unions to a series of meetings to discuss several major reforms. According to the document, these consultations focused in particular on draft legislation relating to hospital reform, the health map, the Health Code, and the new vision presented by the National Strategy for the Transformation of the Health System (SNTSS). The results of the audit of staffing levels and payroll were also on the agenda for this first meeting, scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2026, in Dakar, where each organization was to be represented by two delegates.

While the ministry presents this initiative as a major step in institutionalizing social dialogue to gather feedback from social partners on key legislation, the SUTSAS union, led by its general secretary Mballo Dia Thiam, has chosen to boycott it. In its response to the authorities, the union formally notified them of its refusal to participate in the discussions, detailing the reasons for its decision in a press release.

This firm stance by SUTSAS comes in a tense social climate, where relations between the health chancellery and social partners remain heated, mainly around demands related to working conditions, human resources management and the modalities of application of sectoral reforms.