
Viewpoints | Sep 23,2023
Medical interns have had enough. Long working hours, low salaries and benefits, and poor medical facilities is leading them to drop out of their profession, they claim.
Medical interns have had enough. Long working hours, low salaries and benefits, and poor medical facilities is leading them to drop out of their profession, they claim.
An incident at Jimma University Specialised Hospital last month was the final straw that drew them onto the streets. A female intern was beaten by a distraught father whose daughter died in the emergency room. This led to strikes across multiple medical colleges with interns demanding safe working conditions. The police responded forcefully at Arsi University College of Medicine & Health Science, which angered interns at Meqelle, Gonder, Addis Abeba, Dire Dawa and Adama universities who also took up the cause.
The Health Minister conceded by reducing tuition fees and allocating budgets for the employment of more specialised doctors. But this has only marginally tempered emotions, with interns at Black Lion Hospital in the capital vowing to stay away until their demands are met.
Health Minister Amir Aman (MD) stated that the Ministry recognises the problems but added that the students should be more patient. This is an opinion shared by experts who cite that the interns are still civil servants.
“Demands of the sector should be lodged with respect to the current socio-economic status of the country,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) told over 3,000 members of the health industry who came to see him at a meeting. His response seemed to only strengthen their resolve, with some interns saying that he is misinformed about their profession.
You can read the full story here
PUBLISHED ON
May 11,2019 [ VOL
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