Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) President Dr. Brian Sampa, who was also serving as a practicing medical doctor in government who is credited to have confirmed the now accepted countrywide drugs and medicine shortage in government health facilities has been forced to resign.
Dr. Sampa who went further to reveal acute shortages of essential drugs as well as stationary has disclosed that recommendations were made to have him fired from government where he was serving as a medical practitioner due to his advocacy work and that some people did not approve of his advocacy works.
Dr. Sampa has resigned from government effective today (7 April 2022) stating that his work as a medical practitioner in government was conflicting with his activism which he uses to advocate for quality health services.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Dr. Sampa said he realised that he had to resign from his job if he was going to continue advocating for better health services for the Zambian people because his job was always going to be used against him.
“I thought about the importance of people’s lives rather than my job because what will it profit me to have that job meanwhile am seeing wrong things being done and I can’t speak out. I had no option but to let go of the job and focus on advocating for quality health services and for the betterment of our health sector”, he said.
He explained that some individuals at the Ministry of Health did not approve of his advocacy work therefore his job was on the line, which made it difficult for him to execute his duties diligently as a medical doctor as well as an advocate.
“My job became a liability, I advocate for quality health services, I also stand for the Zambian people when it comes to health and all matters which affect their health, aside from that I am the president of the Resident Doctors in Zambia. All these things require advocacy and each time I was advocating, my job was on the line, there were threats over my job”, he said.
Dr. Sampa mentioned that everything had been okay from 2021 until recently when things started going wrong in the health sector adding that when he became more pronounced about drug shortages and other things happening at the Ministry of Health, things started going wrong for him, making it difficult for him to advocate for better services while serving in government.
“I was going to fail because to be a doctor I needed to concentrate but how do you concentrate at a job that is always on the line and how do you concentrate as an advocate when you are thinking about what will happen to your job when you advocate. I realised this is the right decision to make after consultation and deep meditation, I realised the best way to serve the Zambian people is when I am not tied”, he said.
He noted that he would continue to serve as the President of the Resident Doctors Association of Zambia adding that he is still a practicing medical doctor who will still serve the Zambian people whenever needed and will continue advocating for quality health services without fear or favor.
