The Zambia Medical Association of Zambia is worried that the depreciation of the Kwacha may lead to the exodus of doctors to other countries.
A couple of years ago, Zambia witnessed this sad development when doctors left the country to seek better conditions of service elsewhere.
In US dollar terms the salaries for doctors in the civil service have reduced by over 50%.
Association President Aaron Mujajati said this no longer compares favourably with countries like Botswana and South Africa that used to attract Zambian doctors.
Dr Mujajati said his Association does not wish to see a repeat of such a phenomenon but warned government that if urgent corrective measures are not taken to stabilize the Kwacha and restore its buying power, there will be dire consequences for the health sector.
‘Our members who operate private hospitals and clinics are struggling to keep their doors open as most of their consumables are imported,’ Dr Mujajati said.
‘They will most like pass on the costs to consumers by increasing prices in order to remain in business. We are alive to government public assurances and measures undertaken by the Central Bank to address the current developments in the foreign exchange markets.’
Dr Mujajati said the Association urges government not to relax its efforts in this regard constantly bearing in mind that a lot depends on them.
He said the nation needs to know that there are significant investments underway in the health sector requiring constant vigilance on the part of government and organizations such as ours.
‘Any disturbance or detour in this respect could lead to tragic reversals in the gains so far made in the treatment of many diseases,’ he said.
From this and many other perspectives, the developments in the foreign exchange markets cease to be purely economic but social matters requiring the involvement of all in exerting necessary pressure on government to keep seeking solutions.
‘As we advise government on this subject, we also wish to urge our members who are already feeling the effects of an eroded kwacha to remain calm and together with the Zambian people and government bear the hardships which we hope do not linger too long.’
Wait for kambwili come out and say- they may leave!
Typical of bullies and incompetent people running your country.
Him and that Chanda to not look like people who are in charge of the situation, and of course its just not the Doctors but there are consequences catastrophic and here is the ting, stop blaming people charging their clients in dollars whilst we are at it, until you sort yourselves out!
Thanks
Bb2014
Where are they going, which country still accepting Zambian doctors who never practice?
Doctors, and any Zambian who can sell his /her services abroad, do not need to be loyal to Zambia. After all PF and Zambia have not been loyal to citizens. Please just go away until these PFools are out of power. Remember it was Sata who fired striking doctors in the 1990s and striking nurses in 2012. That’s PF for you – arrogant and incompetent.
Zambia Association of Quacks! Who will miss these half baked UNZA nurses if they leave the country? It’s not like they do anything for Zambian healthcare, its either they are on strike or attending fake clinical meetings.
So now this useless old FOSSIL Chikwanda is not only responsible for the collapse of the the Zambian economy for THE SECOND TIME, he is also responsible for the second DIASPORA that is happening!
How can Zambia ever hope to develop when the best and the brightest are chased out from their motherland by useless, incompetent, greedy and corrupt politicians that are only interested in getting elected. And then helping themselves to public resources!
Fire these swines NOW! It will be too late in 2016!
@Nostradamus
Iwe old people’s homes are stil accepting Zambian doctors as nurses,,,,, with a weak kwacha so, awe shuwa they wil make money in pounds
@Ndobo, Kekekekeke from Dr. to a job without abbreviation – Nurse. Just to sit without old people playing cards, while Edgar is sweating with how to convince Zambians that ifintu nafibipa.
@Mushota
Just enjoy your stay in the diaspora…age is finally catching up with you and soon you will be heading back to Zambia…Mwiponta mukabwela
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
In Aussie doctors get peanuts. Tell them to come moreover their papers are not even recognized. Yaaaks
Besides even the Aud is equally depreciating
kabaleya bakatusanga lt the kwacha keep on free fallin so tht we regret nd may knw hw to vote next time.
Comment: Most rich people have delinquent children. If you feel afforded then you are one.
Why would you stay and get peanuts? It’s simple this government has failed and if you can please leave the world is big to find work with better conditions. The worst government ever and the most corrupt like FTJ ,RB and now this useless bull government and ever say anything about the economy.
Please can we stop importing consumables.It’s embarrassing that 50 years after independence we have to import distilled water,needles,bandages,IV fluids etc.. That money coming from Sweden should be used to build factories to manufacture consumables. Also make provisions for doctors abroad to voluntarily work in the government hospitals for free when they come on holiday.Most doctors would be honoured to do that if the process wasn’t so complicated and if there wasn’t animosity to doctors practicing in the diaspora.
It is all workers and not just doctors. But the truth is prices have not doubled. There are some increases but not to the level the Kwacha has depreciated.
Believe me, IT IS COMING!
By the end of 2015 mealie meal will be K 100 a bag, and by October 2016 it will be more than K200 a bag.
Soon there will be no K2 notes because they are not even worth change, and we will throw all the coins away.
I have a 100 BILLION Zim Dollar note that I found in the rubbish. How long before Zambia has one too?
No patriotism at all
@ESHU
Very true my friend….doctors well bent on making money and not providing services to their fellow country men
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
Politics of the belly!
We are doctors so it can be OUR TURN to EAT! At least we earn our money HONESTLY and by ACTUALLY HELPING PEOPLE.
Not by telling LIES just to get elected and then ignoring the people that elected us!
You Pathetic F00LS voted for this. Now see if you can eat PF LIES!
health workers only speak for themselves while lawyers and economists speak for everyone.
This is why we are away from the country Zambia. Most of us came out the country (Zambia) more than 20 years ago far before PF came into power. So friends the issue of economic blues is older than PF…MMD…UNIP…even UFP.
Come out and make forex for Zambia from outside….. There is nothing wrong with the challenges that come and go….
Doctors even in foreign countries are nomads. they switch from one country to the other. Many have even gone to America where they become nuns/ cleaners for the pensioners. While we appreciate their noble profession, we also have seen that they are opportunists that leave jobs as doctors and become useless politicians like Banda the upnd vice president. Ask president Mpombo for better words to describe medical doctors behaviour/ attitude. They are…
They are no different from Munkombwe. Niba muselela kwakaba.
Their Chairman says that they have had situations like this before ….so who are we to beg them?
@The black woman not pink, I am with you. These useless opportunists can go. Ever been to the govt hospitals, everyday its mis-diagnosis, pilfering of medicines and mainly abscond work to do piece work in private clinics. The currencies of the countries they would like to run to are going through similar problems as our Kwacha, you would think that Doctors would be smart enough to know that.
Imwe ba kolwe, who told you doctors are a charity??? Take your bongo bongos to UNZA for 7 years, then start showing your ifipato!!
Who will remain because even Miners are planing to leave this country.
Lots of good mining jobs for people with experience in Congo!
They have managed their mines properly and have even OVERTAKEN ZAMBIA IN COPPER PRODUCTION!
We have already left Zambia in big numbers it is a training ground which fails to pay as so who can you blame look at the state of UTH and other hospitals in the country who would want to work under such conditions?
@Zambia
Mwiponta mukabwela
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
BaMujajati Nemwe. You run away from your country because of the problem which LUngu has not created? Who are you campaigning for? This is more than the love of money. South Africans burn them untill they learn to be responsible. Zambia will not collapse and you will soon be ashamed
@Kayula
You are a true Patriot my friend…God bless you and let’s all wish and hope for the best for our country Zambia
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
Well, funnily enough……recently UK newspapers said UK NHS Doctors are packing up and leaving for greener pastures due to the crisis and conditions.
Come on Sir, where will they go seriously?! Most European/Western countries are groaning/gaping at the seams under the weight of problems encountered in running a nationwide health system.
Maybe those planning to leave have not been watching the news for a bit of a reality check. We’re leaving? Yeah right, is the response we offer them.
Fota Nkonde for a doctor to be a doctor he has received help from other pipo some are not even relatives. All we are saying is its not fair to run away from the country that helped you to be a doctor. Think of good teachers who made so much sacrifice for you to be a doctor. These teachers didnt run away from you. Imagine if the doctor who had attended to your mother during your birth had run away where would you be by now? Elyo who has created this financial crisis? Thank God not all doctors are like that.
Comment was directed to those who paint the picture that Doctors are simply unpatriotic & selfish. Before 1988, most were on Bursaries, after which , new trained were sent to rural(Real rural!!) as part of their service back to the community. On top of that we had leaders who constantly threatened that we would find ourselves dying with our degrees, same chaps didn’t hesitate to fire on the spot – Now you tell me who was being unpatriotic?? With threats such as mentioned, IT WAS VERY LEGITIMATE TO LEAVE QUIETLY, to further ones education, earn to look after family & extended family!!
Why speak on behalf of others? If you really believe you are marketable, which I strongly doubt, just leave and no one will ever miss you iwe mumbwe.
Going by the services offered at UTh, can anyone miss a doctor from that institution? We know of doctors in the diaspora who just mere cleaners of old people. Instead of focusing on the job, you are busy being used by the failed opposition, shame iwe doctor fimo fimo….
Why is Canicious Banda still a ceremonial vice president of UPND if indeed you guys were marketable, we know you, you are failures. A doctor who cant even give a patient an injection, yak!!!!
@Tatulumbila umwenso iyo
Thanks….very good comments my friend
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
I have met UNZA trained doctors (Zambians and non-Zambians) in the diaspora and they are doing very well. They are still marketable. The government should handle the doctors and all other professionals well. Even if they do not leave it is very dangerous and frustrating to deal with a demoralised professional. The situation at UTH and many other Zambian hospitals is very disheartening to doctors and to patients. There is a shortage of doctors in Zambia and the country cannot afford to lose them. Of course a few will still leave even if the conditions are good due to various reasons.
What nonsense is this doctor spewing? He speaks as if South Africa is spared from the weakness of global emerging market currency weakness. If those Zambian doctors were in demand as he claims they’d have all left. The truth is that developed countries don’t usually value skills from less developed countries.
@Robert Phiri
Educate them my friend…they don’t know what time it is
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
In January this year, K1 was almost equal to 2 Rands, now they are almost at par. So if you had facts, you would have known that the Kwacha has devalued much, much more than the Rand.
useless pf comments u thugs panga family m******mwe the economy biting u az well.pretend not.
@ckd
Be a little bit Patriotic my friend
2016 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
For the heartless UPND supporters this is christmas for them…..they’ve always wished misery on fellow country men…Mwiponta mukabwela….Things will get better soon in Zambia and they will start hounding you in the diaspora.. home is home
2015 vote PF ( Edgar )
I thank you
Hope you go to USA country causing depreciation of other world currencies
Go to USA that causing depreciation of other world currencies
Ba fee colour kanshi muli bama jelasi. Zambian doctors are practising in the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, name it, earning a lot of money. You only see the value of a doctor ngamwalwala utuswende na HIV? Ninshi mwatekanya mwalati “doc can I be receiving ARVs from your office?”
Why should doctors earn peanuts? They have to eat, educate their children, pay rentals just like everyone else!
PF has lamentably failed to run the affairs of Zambia
I have been a Doc for the past 26 years and I have worked all these donkey years here in Zed. I have a lovely family, many houses, many cars and I look after my extended family. Paradise is here. I have changed all the Presidents starting from KK to now ECL. Economical problems have come and gone. I have remained resilient to economical shocks and nothing has shaken me to warrant fleeing my country. I have worked with PSs in MOH … DR Njelesani, Dr Kawaye Kamanga, Dr Kashiwa Bulaya (PHd), Dr G Silwimba, Dr Velepi Mtonga, Dr Simon Kamwendo, Miti, Dr Peter Mwaba, Dr Chkamata. and Now again Dr P Mwaba. I am still enjoying my sweats in lovely Zed. What is required is to be focused. I have toured many countries around the globe and nothing can beat Zed. My friends have fled to…
Umwana ashenda……….
Going out for a workshop can’t enable you assess the country that you are visiting as you are moving in a controlled environment. You are just as bad as one who has never traveled before and this is the reason you’re busy looking at zed as your second heaven. Umwana ashenda…..
wats wrong with this ZIMBABWEAN Mujajati he thinks he can twist arm govt because of the depreciation of the kwacha let him jst go back to Mugabe his fathers native land rather than being foolish on his thinking,if anything if u want to go else where jst pack yo laguage and go *****.
My heart goes to all Zambians bearing the brunt of economic melt down in our country. However I would like to plead with all of you offering vital services to this country that includes Doctors and many others not to abandon the country now when it needs you most.
I know we are all looking for how to remain afloat but for the seek of our children, let us all find the solutions together instead of abandoning the ship. The lack few can go to other countries but what about our other relatives? This is the more reason we have to put our political affiliations aside and find solutions together. God bless mother Zambia.
THIS IS WHY WE HAVE STUPID ATITUDE FROM NURSES AND OTHER MEDICAL STAFF KOZ THE MEDICAL ETHICS DONT EXIST.READ PROFESSOR CHINTU’S PROFILE.DESPITE BEING OFFERED LUCRATIVE PAY IN GERMANY,RUSSIA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES,HE REFUSED TO LEAVE SAYING IF WE ALL LEAVE WHO WILL DEVELOP OUR COUNTRY.HE PREFERED TO WORK AT UTH.THIS WAS IN KAUNDA’S GOVERMENT WEN CONDITIONS WERE BAD.DOCTOR MUNKONGE FACED THE SAME SITUATION.THESE ARE THE SAME DOCTORS HU WENT ON STRIKE LEAVING PATIENTS DYING AT UTH.LET THEM GO AND LEAVE PATIENTS DYING,BUT THEY WILL 1 DAY GIVE AN ACCOUNT.WE ARE ALL AFFECTED BY THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES.
ONLY A FOOL LIKE BUCKTEETH LUNGU WILL SUPPORT DOCTORS ABANDONING THE COUNTRY KOZ OF A WEAK KWACHA.SO IF THE KWACHA APPRECIATES,THEY WILL KUM BACK?IS THAT BEING NORMAL?THE WORLD ECONOMY Z FACING CHALLENGES AND COMPANIES LIKE GLENCORE THE OWNERS OF MOPANI ARE OWING 31 BILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT.COUPLED WITH WEAK COPPER PRICES OF 4900 DOLLARS PER TONNE,THEY ARE FORCED TO SUSPENDEND OPERATIONS AND THEREBY DENY THE ZAMBAIN GOVERMENT MUCH NIDED FOREX TO STABILISE THE KWACHA.THIS IS SIMPLE ECONOMICS THAT CADRES LIKE BUCKTEETH LUNGU WILL NEVER UNDASTAND.THE ZAMBIAN GOVERMENT DEPENDS ON THE MINES FOR 85% OF FOREX AND ALL OF OUR MINES HAVE SCALED PRODUCTION DUE TO WEAK COPPER PRICES AND ELECTRICITY DEFICIT.WE ARE IN THIS PROBLEM KOZ ALL OUR PAST GOVERMENTS REFUSED TO DIVERSIFY FROM COPPER TO OTHER…
When you get your salaries, who said you should go and buy things in USA for you to compare your salary to how much it can buy in dollars? And your point is …
The ones who want to leave, usually just go ahead and do it without making public pronouncements. The fact that this is being said in public means it is simply an empty threat.
Dr.s are not the only necessity in this world when it comes to professions. The doctor needs the plumber and the plumber needs the same doctor. All in all’ non of them is more important than the other. If doctors want to go, let them. It is time the government started to make these guys who were educated on GRZ funds pay back conditionally.
A GOOD TRAVELER NEVER DESPISES HIS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. DO YOU HAVE TO BE TAUGHT THAT YOU SHOULDN’T INSULT THE CROCODILE BEFORE YOU CROSS THE RIVER? EVEN YOUNG MUSICIANS THINK BETTER. What sort of people are you who leave on threats all the time? I lost my DR Coster Tembo because of the STRIKE NONSENSE. Shame to those that do not count on others.
ATI IFINTU NI NGULU!! *****!