May has gotten off on the wrong foot in Algeria, where the social front is in full force. This month has not brought any good to alleviate the sorrows of sick patients who are helplessly suffering from the strikes in public hospitals. A week ago, paramedics triggered an unlimited wave of strikes. Their demands can be summarized as a need for training, duty allowances and a benefits system for common services, aides and licensed nurses.

This act of protest comes in the wake of the three-day strike initiated by the paramedical corporation on March 18 — a strike that has not borne any significant fruits. Hospitals and polyclinics as well as other free clinics in the public sector are already affected by this disturbance, to the dismay of patients who do not know what to do.

Patients seeking care will thus have to turn to private institutions, which not everybody can afford.

“We are completely aware of the impact of the protest movement on the patients. However, since we have not received any response from the government, this strike could continue. Patients will have to endure their pain patiently,” Djamila L., a midwife in the Kabylie region, told Al-Monitor.