The Zanzibar Medical Doctors Association (ZMDA) has started to amend its constitution in the process of enabling members to easily defend their interests.

The move to make the amendments was announced yesterday after a meeting held at the Ministry of Health and brought together several medical doctors.

Briefing journalists, ZMDA secretary general Dr Juma Salum Maambi said the amendments on the constitution should be completed before December this year.

The meeting appointed a committee of five people to review the constitution and present a substantive report before November 10, this year.

Dr Maambi identified the members of the committee as Dr Mwanakheir Mahamoud, Dr Jamala Adam, Dr Omar Juma Khatib, Dr Marijani Msafiri and Dr Salama Rashid Abdallah.

The committee was also instructed to consider the procedures of admitting new members into the association.

The meeting also decided that it was imperative to admit all assistant medical officers working in Unguja and Pemba as members.

He said ZMDA has so far been instrumental in reaching unanimous agreements in defending the doctors’ interests, improving members’ ethical conduct, securing career development for members, as well as providing the professionals with a footing when discussing issues of interest with the government.

Concerning claims that doctors in Zanzibar were also planning to strike, Dr Maambi said that the elements that could have led to that eventuality have already been taken care of by the Isles government after it started paying them new allowances as well as adjusting their salary levels up.

He did not disclose the new salary scales the medical doctors are now paid, but said that other issues were still being processed by the government.

The meeting also saw the attendance of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Mohamed Jidawi, who is also a member of the association.

Contributing to the President's Office (Public Service and Good Governance) budget speech, members of the House of Representatives including Hamza

Hassan Juma (Kwamtipura CCM) said there was a possibility that Isles doctors would go on a strike.