Paraguay Doctors Strike Called Off After Pay Deal With Government

Paraguay · Health

A national walkout in public hospitals was two days away when the union voted the offer through, unanimously. The money arrives with next year’s budget.

The Paraguay doctors strike planned for 21 and 22 September 2026 has been called off. The national physicians’ union approved a government offer at an assembly on Wednesday 16 September 2026.

The union is the Sindicato Nacional de Médicos, known as Sinamed. Its assembly backed the deal unanimously, with no votes against.

What the dispute was about

Four issues drove it: a salary readjustment, job insecurity, pay for holiday shifts, and money for medicines and supplies. Most physicians in the country’s public hospitals hold contracts rather than permanent posts.

NODAL reported that 9,000 of roughly 11,000 public health physicians were contracted rather than permanently appointed. Permanent appointment, called nombramiento, is the status the union pressed for.

What was agreed

Every physician in a public hospital gains a direct increase of 2,000,000 guaraníes, about US$338, for each 12-hour work link. It applies to contracted and permanent staff alike.

Guarani figures here convert at 5,919.47 to the US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference sell rate on 17 September 2026. The published accounts do not specify the pay period a work link covers.

Holiday shifts bring a further 1,000,000 guaraníes, about US$169, for each shift worked. Both items are funded in the 2027 budget, so the money arrives next year.

The agreement also provides 2,300 medical appointments from the 2026 budget. A further 1,500 vacancies are planned for 2027.

Funding for medicines and medical supplies forms part of the package. The supply figures reported for it do not hang together, and are not repeated here.

Javier Giménez, the chief of cabinet, and Isaías Fretes, the minister of public health and social welfare, signed for the government. Rossana González, Sinamed’s secretary general, signed for the physicians.

González put it briefly after the vote: “Lo único que perdimos era el miedo.” The only thing we lost was fear.

Why this one mattered

A five-day national walkout had already closed by 30 August 2026, fought over the same pay and supply questions. More than 431 medical specialists then resigned from the public health system.

At the Hospital Pediátrico Acosta Ñu, 141 of 164 specialists quit. At the Hospital de Trauma, 19 of 21 paediatric intensive care physicians announced departures.

Whether those resignations were withdrawn after this week’s deal has not been published. The August demand was to lift pay from 5 million guaraníes to 8 million guaraníes per 12-hour weekly link.

That is about US$845 rising to about US$1,352 at the same rate. On 11 September 2026 physicians rejected a partial agreement with the Health Ministry.

They kept the 21 and 22 September dates live. The government announced a fuller agreement on 14 and 15 September 2026.

The Sinamed assembly ratified it the next day. That vote is what ended the Paraguay doctors strike before it began.

What it means in practice

For patients, the immediate effect is that public hospitals will run normally next week. The Paraguay doctors strike would have hit them on two consecutive days.

The durable question is staffing. The Paraguay doctors strike was called off on promises written into a budget that begins in 2027.

The dispute covers salaried physicians in public hospitals, not private practice. Contracted staff who win permanent appointment gain the job security the union has pressed for since August.

Also this week: ammunition bought from the United States

Separately, the government confirmed the purchase of ammunition from the United States. Óscar González, the minister of national defence, announced it at a press conference on Wednesday 16 September 2026.

It is a direct government-to-government deal with the US Department of Defense, under the Foreign Military Sales programme. No commercial contractor was named.

González said direct purchasing between states allows acquisition costs to be reduced. The published price figures do not agree with one another.

ABC Color and RDN give 8,200 million guaraníes, about US$1.39 million at the rate above. Prensa Mercosur reports DIGEMABEL, the military materiel directorate, confirming 8,161 million guaraníes, about US$1.38 million.

The outlets’ own dollar figures are lower. El Independiente published US$1,136,653 for the same guarani amount.

ABC Color and Infobae described the purchase as more than one million dollars. Prensa Mercosur gave a range of US$1.1 million to US$1.13 million.

Calibres, types and quantities were not disclosed. El Independiente reports that the ministry said those details were not being made public.

Prensa Mercosur says the ammunition goes to corresponding units of the armed forces and security agencies. No force-by-force allocation was given.

González also confirmed talks with United States representatives about reactivating a domestic ammunition factory. It is described only as a possibility under evaluation, with no timeline, investment figure or agreement.

This week’s reporting does not name the plant. El Independiente cites a 2011 reactivation contract for 3,940 million guaraníes, about US$666,000 at today’s rate.

El Independiente also reports that the government is projecting further purchases.

More: Paraguay coverage, every day from The Rio Times.

What is Sinamed?

Sinamed is the Sindicato Nacional de Médicos, Paraguay’s national union for physicians. It negotiates with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare on pay and working conditions. Its members work in the public hospital network, which employs roughly 11,000 doctors. Decisions such as calling or cancelling a walkout are taken by a members’ assembly, which votes.

Why does permanent appointment matter so much?

Paraguayan public hospitals employ most of their physicians on contracts rather than permanent appointments, known as nombramientos. NODAL reported that about 9,000 of roughly 11,000 public health doctors were on contracts. Permanent status is what the union has sought alongside higher pay. This week’s deal funds 2,300 appointments from the 2026 budget and plans 1,500 more vacancies for 2027.

What is the Foreign Military Sales programme?

Foreign Military Sales is the mechanism through which the United States government sells defence equipment directly to another government. The buyer deals with the US Department of Defense rather than with a commercial arms company. Paraguay’s defence minister says that structure lowers acquisition costs. No contractor was named in the ammunition purchase announced this week.

What is a guarani worth?

The guarani is Paraguay’s currency, and it trades in the thousands to one US dollar. The Banco Central del Paraguay published a floating interbank reference of 5,911.17 buy and 5,919.47 sell on 17 September 2026. Retail boards differ: ABC Color listed a bank showing 5,800 buy and 6,200 sell the same day. Conversions use the central bank sell rate.

Sources: ABC Color on the unanimous assembly vote, ABC Color on the terms and the signatories, Prensa Mercosur on the cancelled 21 and 22 September walkout, NODAL on the August walkout and the 431 resignations, Prensa Mercosur on the partial agreement doctors rejected, Infobae and EFE on the union lifting the strike call, ABC Color on the ammunition purchase, El Independiente on the price and further planned purchases, Prensa Mercosur on DIGEMABEL and the factory study, Banco Central del Paraguay on the reference exchange rate

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