AMMAN —
Public hospitals in Jordan are afflicted
with a shortage of doctors specialized in heart, kidneys, and neurology, partly
caused by the migration of competencies in the sector
اضافة اعلان
Tayseer Al-Kraishan, head of the parliamentary
Health and Environment Committee, said many doctors employed in public
hospitals are discouraged by the low wages they receive. Ultimately, they tend
to look for jobs either in the private sector or abroad.
“The main reason for the brain drain is due to the
lack of privileges and salaries to commensurate with the efforts made by
doctors in those specialties,” Kraishan told
Jordan News.
He said that the reason for the shortage of general
practitioners in some public medical centers is due to the poor distribution
and supervision by the ministry. “There are sufficient numbers of doctors, if
they were distributed proportionately.”
He said that Jordan is full of medical
professionals, and it must “provide them with the appropriate work environment,
especially since their difficult living conditions push them to migrate abroad
to look for better opportunities.”
Mohammad Al-Tarawneh, a chest and respiratory
disease specialist, said that “doctors in public hospitals have a very high
work pressure, especially with regard to the huge number of patients and the
late working hours.”
“Despite all this, doctors do not receive the wages
and salaries they deserve, which motivates them to move abroad,” he added.
He urged the government to support the doctors
“especially since there are highly skilled Jordanian medical professionals who
are respected worldwide, but the lack of appreciation in their home country
will undoubtedly push them to immigrate.”
He cited the
importance of the government encouraging medical tourism and exploiting it to
attract patients from abroad. “This will greatly support the national economy.”
Maysam Al-Akroush, the spokesperson for the
Jordan Medical Association, said the syndicate has no authority over the wages of
public sector doctors, except “appealing to government entities” to improve
their financial status and work environment.
“The association has done so repeatedly, but to no
avail,” she noted.
She stressed that “doctors at public hospitals do not
get the salary they deserve, despite their huge workload every single day”.
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