The plight of Ethiopian health professionals!
Posted: 16 May 2025, 10:07
It is not a political issue. Oromuma should not invent a political reason to threaten abuse and imprison physicians. Most importantly it should not be cherry-picking Amhara and perhaps Tigre physicians and so called Jawar led physicians to abuse.
The underpayment and poor work environment including part time undercompensation of health professionals in the country has existed from Derg time to now. It got worse with inflation and devaluation that made life unbearably expensive for everybody except the corrupt politicians and business dealers.
The Ethiopian health system is a poorly conceptualized non profit making government owned system not open well enough for business. The system conceptualuzed in the dead Almata declaration by marxist Derg with bit of modification for business by TPLF can not endure the changing times and exist forever. The so called government should regulate and pay for patients health insurance than own hospitals and pay salaries to health professionals and fight to sustain underpayment of health professionals. Hospitals should be allowed to make business, profit and pay professionals properly. Hospitals should be allowed to develop business making private wings so that health professionals can be compensated properly. Medical schools probably should be fully paid education systems instead of cost sharing. If gov or regions want to train their own physicians they should pay to medical schools and physicians adequately upon hiring.
Access to medical school for children of the poor may be affected but since we see excess unemployed professionals now, paying for medical school may have a regulatory impact on that.
Physicians should have all external exams such as united states medical licensing exam, UK and other physician hiring country exams available to be able to take if they wish. Also, there should be no barrier from gov side tor physicians to move to other African or other country to get employed.
The Oromuma gov has to stop the right abuse of Ethiopian health professionals and review its health, traing and compensation policy to health professionals. This is a very neutral suggestion.
The underpayment and poor work environment including part time undercompensation of health professionals in the country has existed from Derg time to now. It got worse with inflation and devaluation that made life unbearably expensive for everybody except the corrupt politicians and business dealers.
The Ethiopian health system is a poorly conceptualized non profit making government owned system not open well enough for business. The system conceptualuzed in the dead Almata declaration by marxist Derg with bit of modification for business by TPLF can not endure the changing times and exist forever. The so called government should regulate and pay for patients health insurance than own hospitals and pay salaries to health professionals and fight to sustain underpayment of health professionals. Hospitals should be allowed to make business, profit and pay professionals properly. Hospitals should be allowed to develop business making private wings so that health professionals can be compensated properly. Medical schools probably should be fully paid education systems instead of cost sharing. If gov or regions want to train their own physicians they should pay to medical schools and physicians adequately upon hiring.
Access to medical school for children of the poor may be affected but since we see excess unemployed professionals now, paying for medical school may have a regulatory impact on that.
Physicians should have all external exams such as united states medical licensing exam, UK and other physician hiring country exams available to be able to take if they wish. Also, there should be no barrier from gov side tor physicians to move to other African or other country to get employed.
The Oromuma gov has to stop the right abuse of Ethiopian health professionals and review its health, traing and compensation policy to health professionals. This is a very neutral suggestion.
