Africa-Press – Uganda. Medical practitioners have vowed to shut down all hospitals throughout the country if government does not effect their salary increment as recently directed by President Museveni.
They have, therefore, issued a one-month ultimatum to government to ensure that the salary changes are implemented lest they withdraws their services.
The president of the Uganda Medical Association, Dr Richard Idro, also decried the tendency of the government to respond to their pleas shortly after they have staged strikes.
“We have been reduced to organising strikes, really, we have better things to do; there are patients to care for. I am here just talking, pleading for you to pay doctors Shs5m and consultants Shs7m,” Dr Idro said.
“We gave notice of industrial action, we gave them three months, please don’t blame us when we shut down hospitals come October 6; we are tired,” he added.
The medical doctors were appearing before Parliament’s Health Committee yesterday.
Dr Idro also said government has failed to recruit more medical practitioners to fill the gaps in the health sector that were worsened by the outbreak of coronavirus.
“Currently only 40 per cent of positions for doctors are filled yet we have so many young doctors. We are producing 500 doctors annually, we aren’t recruiting, they are just going. In the past two months, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya have collected our doctors,” Dr Idro said.
The doctors also demanded that lawmakers compel government to ensure that private health training institutions are supervised, reasoning that majority admit more numbers that they can train and ably supervise. This, therefore, ploughs ground for substandard medical practitioners in the health sector.
The medical fraternity also wants government to provide medical insurance to medical officers since many provide services they hardly get.
“In a space of four weeks, we lost a doctor in second wave we lost 20 doctors. We lost a doctor in Nakaseke hospital, right now his family is almost thrown out of the house. These people haven’t received any compensation. We are touching all this pus and wounds, we have no health insurance,” Dr Idro said.
In response, the chairperson of the health committee, Dr Charles Ayume, recommended that Parliament looks into the proposal to purchase cars for the medical consultants.
