Ethiopian doctors are among the least paid professionals in the world despite practicing one of the humanities most noble profession. People who have less to no training in the healthcare system manage Ethiopia’s healthcare system. As such, their negligence to the needs of the doctors and patients is no surprise. Ethiopia has been losing many intelligent and dedicated doctors throughout the years due to financial, managerial, and political abuse under every political reform. The situation only seems to get worse, and any protest from doctors has been met with a forceful response from the government.
Despite meeting with PM Abiy Ahmed on May 3, 2019, their demands for better service was belittled and ridiculed as being ungrateful for their profession. Most officials also chose this time to lecture them about the nobility of their profession, which has already been inscribed on their souls the moment they chose to pursue the profession and way before such people thought they had the right to form an opinion or any grace in their bones to lecture them. Dr. Begashaw Melesse, head surgeon at Arba Minch General Hospital, sat down for an exclusive interview with Mereja TV to discuss the predicament of health care professionals condition.
