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Cuban cure found for SA
doctor crisis
Farook Khan, IOL,
South Africa, October 21 2004.
A cure is on the way for the chronic doctor
crisis at state hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal.
Within months hundreds of doctors from
Cuba and Iran are expected to start work
in the province which will see long patient
queues at hospitals coming to an end.
And medical schools have been told to increase
the number of doctors from their ranks to
help fill the shortage in public hospitals.
Superintendent-General of Health Professor
Ronald Green-Thompson said there was an
"over-supply" of doctors in the
private sector, but that in the public hospitals
the situation was bad.
"We already have doctors from Cuba
who are in our hospitals in a government
to government agreement. Soon we will also
be getting doctors from Iran.
"They will be coming in batches and
the first lot will go to areas where the
situation is worse than ours. I cannot tell
you how many are due, except to say that
hundreds and hundreds will be in the country
soon," said Green-Thompson.
He said that it was not only general practitioners
who were in short supply, but that specialists
were also in big demand. "We are using
doctors from the private sectors who are
doing sessions in our hospitals to take
care of the workload," said Green-Thompson.
Doctors in government hospitals in Durban
said that they had heavy workloads. Over
weekends, doctors were required to work
30-hour shifts without any breaks.
Last week, a family complained that one
of their members who sustained a broken
leg was left in agony for hours because
an anaesthetist was not available.
Other health professionals like social
workers, counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists
and physiotherapists were also in very short
supply.
Dr Saths Cooper, the vice-president of
the International Union of Psychological
Sciences, said that while other countries
were prepared to send doctors to South Africa,
they come with a price.
"We are not investing in our own people
and unless we train more of our people,
we will always have to pay a high price
for public health care," said Cooper.
He said that he was aware of the shortage
of doctors and health professionals in South
Africa.
Doctors in private practice said that they
would be pleased to work in public hospitals,
but that the salaries were low.
Already more than 450 Cubans are on the
government payroll in departments like housing,
health and water affairs and forestry. Most
of them - at least 339 - work as doctors.
Others are architects, engineers and technicians.
The statistics are found in a report released
yesterday by the Public Service Commission
on the appointment of professional Cubans
in the public service. The report makes
clear, however, that the numbers could be
higher.
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