Prime
Government plan to hire Cuban doctors misguided
What you need to know:
- If government goes ahead with its plan to hire Cuban doctors, the ruling party will be donating millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money to Castro’s Cuba
- Government would have denied Ugandans the opportunity to build local doctors’ capacity and improve hospital facilities across the country.
- Ironically, even the Cuban doctors the Ugandan government is thinking about hiring previously sued their government for low pay when they were imported by Brazil.
- The idea that you must be prepared to work for your country for low pay or no pay is only sustainable if taxpayers willingly or otherwise support an individual’s welfare.
Recently some Ugandan Members of Parliament (MPs) were threatening to open war against government’s mooted employment of Cuban doctors to work in Ugandan hospitals.
In 2017 Sarah Opendi, the Minister of State for Health, denied any government intentions of importing Cuban doctors.
However, recently during the International Labour Day celebrations in Ssembabule District, President Museveni renewed the possibility of importing Cuban doctors.
Although government has not openly confirmed its plans to employ Cuban doctors, many people strongly believe that the 2017 doctor’s strike for better pay and improvement of working conditions deeply angered and frustrated the ruling party.
President Museveni said: “I wanted to bring Cuban doctors because our doctors behaved very badly, unprofessionally.
They tried to incite doctors to abandon patients so that patients die. But fortunately, many of the doctors refused to leave their patients, it was only a few bad ones that boycotted patients.”
Many people believe the government employing Castro’s Cuban doctors is misguided loyalty, unpatriotic and diversionary ploy to divert attention away from the real issues of salary increment for local doctors and overdue, discussion of a minimum wage.
Ugandan soldiers fight wars where many times life or death decisions are taken, a responsibility understood well by doctors who find themselves in similar situations.
The Hippocratic Oath that doctors take states: “Do no harm, if it is given me to save a life, all thanks, but it may also be within my power to take a life; this responsibility must be faced with great humbleness, awareness of my own frailty. I must not play God but treat a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability.”
Economic stability is not only a concern for sick people’s families, equally doctors must be catered for to survive in Uganda’s poverty riddled existence.
Ironically, even the Cuban doctors the Ugandan government is thinking about hiring previously sued their government for low pay when they were imported by Brazil.
Jiménez Gutierrez, a Cuban doctor imported by Brazil said: “150 of us are suing and breaking ranks with the Cuban government, demanding to be released from a form of slave labour where countries like Brazil pay our government millions of dollars every month for each doctor to provide medical services yet the doctors themselves only get a small cut of that money.”
The implications are that if government goes ahead with its plan to hire Cuban doctors, the ruling party will be donating millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money to Castro’s Cuba. Government would have denied Ugandans the opportunity to build local doctors’ capacity and improve hospital facilities across the country.
Government of Uganda’s plan to hire Cuban doctors would be understandable if it was a threat, a strategic bargaining leverage, trying to re-focus attention on patriotism.
The idea that you must be prepared to work for your country for low pay or no pay is only sustainable if taxpayers willingly or otherwise support an individual’s welfare.
The striking doctors have to work long stressful hours under difficult situations.
They are facing harsh economic circumstances, struggling to pay rent, school fees and provide basic necessities for their families. Understandably government support is required. Some changes must be made.
Hiring Cuban doctors may only be a temporary highly costly solution for government.
Alternately Uganda must solve her own problems. Minimum wages for doctors, soldiers, and teachers, among others, sooner or later will have to be addressed.
Ms Victoria Nyeko is a media commentator.
[email protected] Twitter:@VictoriaNyeko
