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| Kenyan authorities worry as doctors bail out
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Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) -
Kenya is losing on average 20
medical doctors each month to better jobs abroad, local dailies
reported this week.
In a front-page story Wednesday, the East African Standard
quoted the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) as saying doctors
were fleeing poor remuneration in their country.
According to KMA coordinator Paul Wangai, a large number
of doctors were "migrating to seek greener pastures in other
countries because they are extremely underpaid by the Kenya
Government".
Underlining the gravity of the problem, Dr Wangai said the
public sector currently has only 600 medical doctors and 70
dentists countrywide serving more than 28 million people.
"If the trend does not change, the situation would continue
deteriorating until there's no expertise in the medical sector,"
Wangai was quoted as saying.
In its editorial, the East African Standard noted that "on
the one hand, virtually all Government hospitals are suffering
from an acute shortage of doctors".
Recently, the paper added, the KMA proposed massive
pay raise for doctors in order to stem the brain drain, but the
Government reacted with a "shrug of the shoulders".
The paper echoed the concerns of the KMA, adding that
the issue was both important and disquieting.
It noted that the doctors were bailing out even as Kenya's
medical sector was in dire need of qualified personnel.
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| Nairobi - 23/08/2001 |
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