Hospital care in Mozambique was already considered poor by users, but the situation is likely to get worse now that the doctors' strike is in its seventh day.

Almost all services have been affected by the strike and patients, many with appointments already booked, spend hours on end waiting to be seen, others giving up because of the slow pace and the absence of professionals.

In the long queues at Nampula Central Hospital, the largest health unit in the north of the country, which also sees patients from Niassa and Cabo Delgado, there are patients and companions tired of waiting for care.

The hospital's spokeswoman, Dalva Khossa, who did not give the number of strikers, told journalists that the strike "is affecting all services", and to ensure the minimum and emergency services, the hospital has resorted to "military doctors who have been making an effort and some national doctors, but they are observing a schedule made by them".

Quoted by VOA, Dalva added that "consultations are being held in some areas that have foreign doctors, but in others where there are Mozambican doctors, they are at a standstill".

The doctors' strike is taking place during the rainy season, when cases of diarrhea and malaria are frequent in Nampula province.

Dalva Khossa predicts that the situation will not be very good.

"I hope that the strike doesn't continue, that there is a negotiation between the government and the doctors because if this continues we could have a bad situation for both doctors and patients," he concluded.

It should be noted that at last week's press conference in Maputo, the organization denounced threats and intimidation by the government, after Health Minister Armindo Tiago said that the strikers would be subject to administrative proceedings, starting with absences and impacting on their salaries.