{"id":26378,"date":"2022-09-27T08:23:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T08:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors"},"modified":"2022-09-27T08:45:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T08:45:23","slug":"why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors","title":{"rendered":"Why govt is restricting NGOs hiring local doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>The turnover of medical doctors in Rwanda\u2019s public hospitals is undermining the government’s efforts to bridge existing gaps in the health sector, officials say.<\/p>\n

Apparently, medical doctors are moving to non-government organisations (NGOs) to do well paying jobs as consultants and project coordinators.<\/p>\n

In a bid to retain doctors in public hospitals, the Ministry of Health has renewed its restrictions on the NGOs recruitment process, The New Times has learnt.<\/p>\n

The ministry wants to approve any recruitment of doctors, both specialists and general practitioners, in local and international NGOs.<\/p>\n

However, some NGOs say the new attempt to retain doctors could be a \u2018delicate move\u2019 vis-\u00e0-vis labour rights.<\/p>\n

In a letter dated September 14, 2022, addressed to development partners in the health sector, the ministry says it is \u201cmuch concerned that some [doctors] are leaving without fulfilling their commitment to serve the public sector after training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under what\u2019s known as a \u2018retention contract,\u2019 general practitioners who studied on government scholarship commit to a two-year public service, while for specialists, the commitment is a period of five to seven years.<\/p>\n

For other medics, the letter signed by Dr Daniel Ngamije, the Minister of Health, says, \u201ctheir departure causes a disruption considering the gap of medical doctors the sector is trying to bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

It adds that the phenomenon is having a \u201cnegative impact\u201d on the quality of health services and the health system in general. And the NGOs have been reminded to follow instructions made in 2016 requesting them \u201cto always seek approval of the Ministry of Health prior to initiating a recruitment process to hire any specialist and general practitioner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors\u2019 Association and NGOs react<\/p>\n

According to Rwanda Medical Association, a syndicate of some 300 doctors, those who leave the public sector are offered better payment and working conditions or they just want to change their job for other reasons, adding however that the retention of doctors is necessary for the local health sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, the ministry’s concern is a positive sign that they appreciate the need to retain our doctors,\u201d said David Ntirushwa, the association\u2019s president.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, much as we look at the gap left by a doctor who joins an NGO, let\u2019s also look at the welfare of those who work in the public hospitals, their salary, facilitation and motivation, which make them want to go elsewhere,\u201d Dr Ntirushwa said.<\/p>\n

For instance, a doctor who works in a private hospital earns three to four times the salary of a doctor with the same training and experience who works in the public sector, The New Times has learnt. And for those joining NGOs, their salary could be five to six times more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough the salary would not necessarily have to be equal,\u201d Dr Ntirushwa said, \u201cthe longest serving doctors need to be motivated through horizontal promotion for example, and that will prevent them from leaving public hospitals as well as inspire their junior colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retention of doctors shouldn\u2019t be forceful; instead there has to be improvements with regards to their working conditions, he added.<\/p>\n

Need for talks with NGOs<\/p>\n

The ministry should engage the organisations in talks to make sure that they understand what the letter entails, said Aphrodis Kagaba, the executive director of Health Development Initiative (HDI), an NGO.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have any problem with the letter itself, but what I think will be very tricky is its implementation,\u201d Kagaba said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a doctor has a contract with the ministry to work in the public sector for a certain period of time, then they should respect it. But if the ministry wants to say that any doctor seeking a new job will need official approval, that means they might be infringing on the doctor\u2019s rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the ministry\u2019s concerns are \u201cunderstandable,\u201d but the new measure should be considerate of free movement of labour and workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Official data suggests Rwanda has recorded a positive trend in its doctor to population ratio. The number of doctors per population has increased from 1\/16,001 in 2010 to 1\/8,294 in 2019. However, the target is 1\/7,000 by 2024.<\/p>\n

The New Times sought a comment from the Ministry of Health, but by press time they had not responded to questions about what will be done in case a doctor leaves the public sector or an NGO initiates a recruitment process without the government’s approval.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. The turnover of medical doctors in Rwanda\u2019s public hospitals is undermining the government’s efforts to bridge existing gaps in the health sector, officials say. Apparently, medical doctors are moving to non-government organisations (NGOs) to do well paying jobs as consultants and project coordinators. In a bid to retain doctors in public hospitals, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":26377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30,28],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-26378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy govt is restricting NGOs hiring local doctors - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The turnover of medical doctors in Rwanda\u2019s public hospitals is undermining the government's efforts to bridge existing ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why govt is restricting NGOs hiring local doctors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The turnover of medical doctors in Rwanda\u2019s public hospitals is undermining the government's efforts to bridge existing ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-27T08:23:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-27T08:45:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/09\/postQueueImg_5-6332b77df046a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Why govt is restricting NGOs hiring local doctors\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-27T08:23:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-27T08:45:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors\"},\"wordCount\":745,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/09\/postQueueImg_5-6332b77df046a.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-govt-is-restricting-ngos-hiring-local-doctors\",\"name\":\"Why govt is restricting NGOs hiring local doctors - 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