The Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) has revealed that the Doctor to patient ration in Zambia is way below the World Health Organization – WHO standards, meaning that Zambia has to scale up its training and deployment of medical doctors.
Medical Association of Zambia Secretary General Dr. Kaumba Tolopu in a statement availed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT noted that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the desirable doctor-patient ratio is 1 doctor for every 1,000 patients but Zambia currently reports a ratio of 1 doctor for every 12, 000 patients.
He added that this is way below the WHO recommendation for a country working towards attainment of universal health coverage and access to quality health care for all by 2030, a goal in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda and Zambia’s own national strategic health plans.
And the Association has opposed government’s rhetoric that appears to ask trained medical doctors to volunteer their hard earned skills in government facilities without salaries and with no clear road map to fair and reasonable employment.
Dr. Tolopu expressed dismay to hear government’s proposal to engage the punitive approach of prioritizing for employment, those who agree to volunteer in government facilities, even over those who have been waiting for much longer.
The Medical Association views this move functionally strong-arms doctors into offering their services for free and is potentially paving way for a system in which government is not obliged to pay doctors for their work.
He noted that Zambia currently has close to 700 medical doctors and dental surgeons who have been awaiting employment for almost two years now adding that these are fully qualified professionals who have already spent over seven years in medical school and who in past years have immediately absorbed into the civil service at managerial level.
ZMA therefore finds the expectations that these professionals should now be expected to work and risk their lives without the reasonable protection and privileges granted to members of the civil services to be egregious and unreasonable and the association does not accept the notion of subjecting its members to free labour.
Dr. Tolopu mentioned that doctors are a precious and useful resource and government must immediately recognize them as such noting that the labour of medical doctors is not free and should not be treated as such.
The Association has called upon the Ministry of Health and President Hakainde Hichilema to absorb all doctors into the civil service with immediate effect and with remuneration at the appropriate level noting that the crisis must not be used as an opportunity to exploit those working at the front lines.
He explained that doctors like all hardworking Zambians have obligations, needs and family responsibilities and they are not exempt from the high cost of living but nonetheless, they have made huge sacrifices in order to serve the nation and they continue to do so in the line of duty.
Dr. Tolopu further said many doctors have indeed already been volunteering through the various Covid-19 waves at great personal cost and with no promise of compensation for that contribution adding that they serve for the nation’s gratitude, which they cannot use to feed themselves and take care of their families.
He noted that the association would continue to hold consultative deliberations that promote fairness and has also urged all stakeholders to take advantage of ZMA’s open door policy to advance deliberations.
The association has urged its members to desist from bowing to exploitation attempts as it continues to engage government and has appealed to the leadership of the country to expedite the process of promotions and recruitment of healthcare professionals to address the huge human resource deficit in healthcare delivery.
