Zambia's health problems: 1 doctor for 20,000 patients
Health |
Health Minister Kasonde told AA struggling hospitals and health centers were generally those located in rural areas.
Zambia's state-run healthcare services are increasingly running short of doctors and other health workers and specialists over low pay, a lack of career opportunities and difficult working conditions.
"More than half of government-trained public health workers including doctors, nurses and other experts in the field of health have left public hospitals and clinics for greener pastures over the past decades," Health Minister Dr. Joseph Kasonde told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
"And the departure rate is still rising," he said. "Most doctors leave [state hospitals] to join private hospitals, clinics or international NGOs in the country."
"Some have particularly set their eyes on the U.S., Australia and the U.K.," he added.
According to Kasonde, Zambian doctors are frequently enticed by lucrative offers and better working conditions with which the Zambian government cannot compete.
He said the country's struggling hospitals and health centers were generally those located in rural areas.
"Our rural health centers and hospitals are now left in the hands of junior nurses because the seniors, along with other highly-skilled nurses and doctors, have left," the health minister lamented.
"At times, patients are attended to by classified daily employees, who are employed by the ministry to maintain hygiene in hospitals and clinics," he noted.
-Dangerous-
Kasonde said the health sector in Zambia was currently operating at less than 50 percent of capacity, with the ratio standing at roughly one doctor per 20,000 patients. The nurse-patient ratio, he added, currently stood at roughly one nurse per 1500 patients.
"If you are left with only one doctor when you're supposed to have three, patients have to wait longer before they are attended to," he noted. "Sometimes, the most unfortunate end up dying in queues as they await their turn."
Even though John Bwalya, a 37-year-old Zambian, was diagnosed seven months ago with a heart problem requiring immediate attention, he has yet to see a doctor.
"I was brought here to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) seven months ago," he told AA. "But although it is hard enough to get to a hospital, the real problems begin once a patient gets inside."
"Since I was admitted, I have been waiting to see the doctor," Bwalya lamented. "Unfortunately, in the process of waiting to see the doctor, I have contracted another disease."
"Now I don't know which one is going to kill me," he added tearfully.
Terry Phiri, 65, has had no better luck.
"We take all the pain of travelling to the cities," he told AA. "But when we get there [to the hospital], we receive little or no attention because doctors are not readily available."
Phiri, who spent four days travelling to UTH seeking treatment for his son's heart condition, said he was lucky to have had enough money to get there.
"But many of our poorest villagers who have not seen a single doctor or trained government health worker for more than a year die in their homes," he said.
"This is the reality in our village, where people can't get proper care because there is either no medicine or no doctors," added Phiri.
He further complained that, after months of trying to get hold of a doctor to examine his 16-year-old son, the medicine prescribed by the latter was not available at local pharmacies.
"Regrettably, there is no medicine. The nurses here advised me to wait for the same doctor so that he could change the drug," he said.
"The problem I have now is how many more weeks do I have to wait before I can see him [the doctor] again?" Phiri, looking helplessly at his afflicted son, asked.
"More than half of government-trained public health workers including doctors, nurses and other experts in the field of health have left public hospitals and clinics for greener pastures over the past decades," Health Minister Dr. Joseph Kasonde told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.
"And the departure rate is still rising," he said. "Most doctors leave [state hospitals] to join private hospitals, clinics or international NGOs in the country."
"Some have particularly set their eyes on the U.S., Australia and the U.K.," he added.
According to Kasonde, Zambian doctors are frequently enticed by lucrative offers and better working conditions with which the Zambian government cannot compete.
He said the country's struggling hospitals and health centers were generally those located in rural areas.
"Our rural health centers and hospitals are now left in the hands of junior nurses because the seniors, along with other highly-skilled nurses and doctors, have left," the health minister lamented.
"At times, patients are attended to by classified daily employees, who are employed by the ministry to maintain hygiene in hospitals and clinics," he noted.
-Dangerous-
Kasonde said the health sector in Zambia was currently operating at less than 50 percent of capacity, with the ratio standing at roughly one doctor per 20,000 patients. The nurse-patient ratio, he added, currently stood at roughly one nurse per 1500 patients.
"If you are left with only one doctor when you're supposed to have three, patients have to wait longer before they are attended to," he noted. "Sometimes, the most unfortunate end up dying in queues as they await their turn."
Even though John Bwalya, a 37-year-old Zambian, was diagnosed seven months ago with a heart problem requiring immediate attention, he has yet to see a doctor.
"I was brought here to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) seven months ago," he told AA. "But although it is hard enough to get to a hospital, the real problems begin once a patient gets inside."
"Since I was admitted, I have been waiting to see the doctor," Bwalya lamented. "Unfortunately, in the process of waiting to see the doctor, I have contracted another disease."
"Now I don't know which one is going to kill me," he added tearfully.
Terry Phiri, 65, has had no better luck.
"We take all the pain of travelling to the cities," he told AA. "But when we get there [to the hospital], we receive little or no attention because doctors are not readily available."
Phiri, who spent four days travelling to UTH seeking treatment for his son's heart condition, said he was lucky to have had enough money to get there.
"But many of our poorest villagers who have not seen a single doctor or trained government health worker for more than a year die in their homes," he said.
"This is the reality in our village, where people can't get proper care because there is either no medicine or no doctors," added Phiri.
He further complained that, after months of trying to get hold of a doctor to examine his 16-year-old son, the medicine prescribed by the latter was not available at local pharmacies.
"Regrettably, there is no medicine. The nurses here advised me to wait for the same doctor so that he could change the drug," he said.
"The problem I have now is how many more weeks do I have to wait before I can see him [the doctor] again?" Phiri, looking helplessly at his afflicted son, asked.
