The National Union of Public Health Practitioners (SNPSP) sent a letter to the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, expressing gratitude for the efforts made in favor of the health system while requesting urgent intervention regarding the files on statutes, the compensation system, and promotion prospects in the public sector. This was stated in a union communiqué this Wednesday.
In its correspondence, the union first expressed “its deep gratitude” to the Head of State for his constant commitment since the beginning of his mandate to modernize national health policy and improve healthcare services. The union also affirmed that the President’s “strategic support” for the development of the pharmaceutical industry represented a major turning point for the sector.
The SNPSP recalled that presidential directives had emphasized addressing the social and professional aspects of the medical body, expanding medical training through the creation of new faculties, and launching hospital-university complex projects in Ouargla, Constantine, and Tizi Ouzou.
The SNPSP therefore praised the “personal involvement of the Head of State in improving the material conditions of practitioners.” However, it expressed “serious concern” among general practitioners, specialists, dentists, and pharmacists over the delay in publishing amendments to Executive Decrees 24-409 and 24-410 of December 28, 2024, concerning special statutes and the compensation system.
The union explained that it had submitted its proposals to the Ministry of Health since February 20, adding that a “shadow zone” persists around the finalization of these texts. It also regretted that negotiations at the government commission level, responsible for “addressing statutory and compensation dysfunctions,” took place without SNPSP representatives.
In this context, the union requested “the direct intervention of the President to accelerate the publication of the final versions and to guarantee the application of the financial retroactive effect starting January 1, 2024, in accordance with presidential directives.”
In the same document, the union drew the President’s attention to another issue deemed “essential” for practitioners’ careers: the “shortage of budgeted positions” dedicated to promotion within health institutions. It reported that services at the Ministry of Health had experienced considerable delays in preparing the necessary inter-ministerial orders to organize promotion competitions and appointments to senior functional positions, which are “indispensable to the operation of health structures across all regions of the country.”
Faced with this situation, the SNPSP requested “the possibility of reinstating the organization of promotion competitions for general practitioners and specialists based on the former inter-ministerial orders in force before the revision of statutes, while awaiting the publication of the new texts.”
The union pointed out that “converting budgeted positions already occupied into positions intended for promotion would more effectively meet the real needs of health institutions.”
Moreover, the practitioners’ representative also requested “the removal of administrative and procedural obstacles” that currently block the validation or cessation of appointments to senior positions, notably due to the refusal of financial services to endorse them.
The SNPSP concluded its letter by expressing hope that these issues will be resolved as soon as possible to guarantee public health practitioners working and career development conditions commensurate with their responsibilities.