Vers une paralysie du secteur de la santé : Le SAMES annonce 48 heures de grève les 8 et 9 septembre
The public health sector could face another period of tension in the coming days. The Autonomous Union of Doctors, Pharmacists and Dentists of Senegal (SAMES) announced on Monday, August 31, 2026, a 48-hour total strike on Tuesday, September 8 and Wednesday, September 9.
The action will, however, be accompanied by adherence to emergency services and minimum service requirements. Union members will also wear a red armband during these two days.
Through this mobilization, SAMES intends to put pressure on the authorities to obtain answers to a platform of demands developed since 2023. According to its national general secretary, Dr Diabel Dramé, the union has favoured dialogue for several months and has multiplied its follow-ups, without obtaining answers deemed satisfactory.
“We gave them time. That time has run out,” he said at the press conference held in Keur Madia.
SAMES insists that this decision was not taken lightly. The union points out that it suspended certain actions at the request of the authorities and participated in the process of drafting the pact for social stability.
But, he believes, the lack of concrete answers now leaves him with no other choice than to engage in union struggle.
Behind this strike lies a platform that goes far beyond mere salary issues. SAMES is demanding, in particular, the development of a special status for the medical profession, the recruitment of doctors, pharmacists and dentists for the public sector, raising the age of tenure to 40, a compensation system deemed fair and an increase in retirement pensions.
The union is particularly concerned by a paradox that raises questions: Senegal suffers from a shortage of human resources in several health facilities while doctors, pharmacists and dentists find themselves unemployed.
SAMES also calls for automatic recruitment at the end of training, priority integration of contract workers operating in difficult areas, consideration of years of contract work and more transparent rules for transfers and appointments.
The demands also concern infrastructure. The union is calling for each department to eventually have a level 2 public health facility and for each region to have access to major equipment such as scanners and MRI machines. It is also demanding adapted ambulances, functional laboratories, and an efficient hospital maintenance system.
The training and situation of resident physicians are also among the concerns. SAMES specifically denounces the delays in the payment of internship allowances and demands better academic, social, and professional conditions for specialists in training.
Another point of contention is a circular dated August 19, 2026, which the union considers likely to jeopardize certain housing assistance programs for doctors, pharmacists, and dentists. SAMES warns directors who, it believes, might attempt to suspend or eliminate these benefits.
For the union, these demands do not only concern healthcare professionals. "Defending doctors' working conditions means defending the quality of care," argues Dr. Diabel Dramé.
SAMES believes that its demands directly affect the health system's ability to retain its skilled workforce, ensure continuity of care, and guarantee equitable access for the population.
The mobilization schedule is already set. An extraordinary meeting of the SAMES National Executive Committee is scheduled for September 1st. General assemblies and awareness campaigns will be organized in the zones and sections starting September 2nd, before the 48-hour strike on September 8th and 9th.
An assessment of the movement is scheduled for September 10th. Its continuation will depend on the results of this assessment and, above all, on the progress of discussions with the authorities.
SAMES claims to remain open to dialogue, but now demands "serious" negotiations with decision-making interlocutors, a precise timetable and concrete, quantified and verifiable commitments.
With less than ten days until the announced strike, the issue goes beyond a simple union standoff. It concerns not only the working conditions of healthcare professionals, but also the public system's ability to maintain accessible and high-quality care.
The ball is now in the authorities' court.
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