By HANA-MARIAM TESHOME
Over the years, Ethiopia has faced an emerging crisis in its healthcare system, with its doctors being driven to the breaking point; some have even lost their lives.
The committed professionals who have dedicated themselves to the service of the people of the nation have now sounded a desperate alarm over the grim conditions that have compelled many to contemplate the unthinkable act: suicide.
Yet despite all the sacrifices doctors make to stay working in this country’s health sector, their plight remains highly ignored.
The financial and systemic causes of their woes are basically engendered by outrageously low wages, a lack of health insurance, and the reluctance on the part of the government to ameliorate their situation of less dignity and insurmountable adversities at work.
A Crisis of Compensation
Of all the East African countries, Ethiopia pay the least for physicians which is less than $100 a month.
That size of pay is not only below the basic living expenses of a person in Ethiopia but also stands far beneath what their colleagues are receiving in East Africa countries such as Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia, where junior doctors receive over $600 a month.
This pay disparity is all the more reprehensible as the demands on Ethiopian healthcare professionals increase with their being forced to labor in understaffed hospitals, enduring a chronic shortage of resources, and often dangerous and unhealthy conditions.
In fact, for many physicians in Ethiopia, it has simply become impossible to survive under present conditions.
Rent, food, and transportation have become insurmountable challenges for doctors who, despite their training and dedication, cannot afford even a modest standard of living.
These physicians are not asking for exaggerated pay increases but only for their salaries to be raised to a level comparable to other East African countries.
Yet, their repeated requests to the government for fair compensation have fallen on deaf ears.
Dr Yonas Workineh, a Medical Doctor says the result of those desperations that the financial constraint, coupled with the psychological and physical burdens of working in an underfunded healthcare system, has left many physicians at a point of utter disillusionment and frustration.
“Alarming number of doctors have left the country to seek better fortunes in neighboring countries such as Somalia, Somaliland, and Rwanda and Uganda, where wages are more attractive and working conditions less onerous.” Dr. Yonas told The East African Daily.
“But even more telling is the increasing trend of Ethiopian physicians pursuing international qualifications, such as the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination), PLAB (Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board), and DHL” He added
According to Dr. Yonas, these exams provide opportunities for Ethiopian doctors to practice in countries that offer not only better pay but also guaranteed health insurance and improved working conditions.
“Many doctors currently dedicate themselves to studying for these exams, so they can leave Ethiopia and start a new life abroad.”
In august, 2012 — according to Keseteberhan Admassu, the country’s state minister of health.
Speaking to an international group of experts assembled by Harvard School of Public Health’s (HSPH) Department of Global Health and Population and Yale Global Health Leadership Institute (GHLI) stated that, there are currently more Ethiopian doctors working in Chicago than in Ethiopia,
it was astonishing to find that the number of Ethiopian physicians in Chicago alone outnumbered all the physicians in Ethiopia.
This exodus of medical professionals not only deprives the country of much-needed talent but also outlays the grim reality that Ethiopia’s healthcare system is fast losing its qualified doctors.
Another critical issue which has deepened the crisis among Ethiopian physicians is the absence of comprehensive health insurance for health professionals.
The physicians are exposed to various serious diseases while treating patients, and yet they do not have coverage for the medical care they require themselves.
Several physicians have contracted various diseases in their work and have found no support or treatment.
Although many have pleaded with the government for a solution, nothing has changed. Without health benefits to those who care for the nation’s health is an ironic tragedy that further adds insult to injury.
When any health professional falls ill, the majority of them have to rely on donations from the public for their medical expenses.
The public organizes fundraising drives out of compassion to help pay for such doctors’ treatment who cannot afford medical care that they are supposed to get.
This situation indicates more how bad the health care system is and how the system neglects its own people who spend their lives serving others.
A Cry for Change
In an open letter sent to Meseret Media, doctors in Ethiopia threatened the government that if those crucial matters were not looked into, they would be left with no option but to take a dire decision: ending their lives, with the belief that their sacrifices might bring about the change.
It is a desperate act, one that speaks to the immense pain and hopelessness these doctors feel.
The medical professionals of Ethiopia, who previously had committed their lives to the service of others, now need help themselves, but nobody seems to hear their crying for justice.
The situation has reached a critical juncture. The government of Ethiopia can continue to ignore the plight of its health professionals; the country stands to lose not only its doctors but also the fabric that holds the health sector together.
This situation demands seriousness and urgency. It is not demands but basic human rights increased compensation, health insurance coverage, and better working conditions for those who save lives every day.
The Government of Ethiopia needs to act now before the situation gets out of control.
The lives of so many committed doctors are at risk, and if this is allowed to go on unchecked, even more people will lose their life-not from disease but due to a flawed system that has let down those who have given a lot to save others.
It is high time that the government listened, acted, and brought hope back to the nation’s physicians before it’s too late.