Uganda: Don't Import Doctors, Just Check Brain Drain

5 December 2017
editorial

Daily Monitor yesterday revealed that the government is drawing plans to bring into the country 200 doctors from the Caribbean island nation of Cuba, and also hire retired personnel to fix the gaps in the health sector. The decision to staff the health sector is healthy, especially that the country, as of 2013, had a 1:24,725 doctor to patient ratio. The intention to also make the experts train and supervise intern doctors is very much welcome.

However, we think the government is looking thousands of kilometres away for solutions that are within a spitting distance. For instance, let us look at the issue of brain drain and its causes. In May last year, the former chairman of Health committee in the 9th Parliament, Dr Medard Bitekyerezo, said more than 240 specialist doctors had left Uganda over five years due to poor pay and bad working environment.

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