We are concerned about the sweeping absenteeism of doctors, as well as other medical and administrative staff, in healthcare facilities across the country following the fall of the Awami League government. According to a report by daily Samakal, about 45 percent of the 93,834 staff—the total workforce in medical colleges, and specialised and autonomous hospitals under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS)—have not been coming to work since August 5. This is quite alarming. Although absenteeism is an old problem in the public healthcare sector, compared to normal times, 12,000 more medical professionals have remained absent from work during the last week, according to the report.

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Healthcare costs mustn’t make people destitute

Our health sector is already plagued by a number of problems including manpower shortage, corruption in recruitment and medical procurement, inefficiency, poor quality of services, high treatment costs—to mention just a few. In addition, the weeks of violence that the nation witnessed recently increased the number of patients who need urgent medical attention. In such moments of crisis, the culture of doctors and nurses staying away from work without any formal leave is causing disruptions in both regular and emergency healthcare services.

Political appointments and nepotism in the recruitment process have also given rise to the current situation, as those who gained undue favours from the previous regime now fear reprisals and even replacement by their more deserving colleagues. Sadly, it is always the patients that have to pay the price for such crises. The situation is worse for the rural populace for whom accessing quality healthcare is difficult even during normal times. So we can only imagine how the lack of medical service outside the capital—caused by the wilful absenteeism of doctors, directors, assistant directors, and civil surgeons in district hospitals—is exacerbating their suffering.

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Develop a patient referral system

We, therefore, urge the health adviser to take steps to ensure that absentee doctors and other staff in public hospitals join work without delay. Physicians must be reminded of their Hippocratic Oath to not harm their patients and perform their professional duty, or face consequences. In the long run, we expect the interim government to initiate reforms in the healthcare sector so that similar disruptions do not occur in the future because of irregularities and corruption. The administration should try to build a system where patient care comes before everything else, and people can receive prompt, quality and low-cost healthcare without having to travel abroad for treatment.