By Esther Mukyala

MEDICAL workers involved in unethical conduct and drunkenness will be sacked, the health minister has said. Dr. Stephen Mallinga, describing them as non-performers, said the workers were a liability to the country.

The minister, speaking at the inauguration of a new board for Jinja Hospital on Friday, said the Government was working towards improving the pay for medical workers to check the brain drain that has affected the health sector.

“Many of our doctors are working in countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan and the DR Congo where they are getting better pay,” Mallinga said.

“We need to revamp our medical sector by addressing all the relevant issues affecting our medics such as poor remuneration and lack of decent accommodation,” he added.

In April, the minister told a meeting of regional medical students that 13 senior surgeons left Uganda for Rwanda last year due to poor pay, adding that there were about 250 doctors in South Africa alone.

In order to stem this brain drain, Mallinga said fresh graduates should be paid between sh1m and sh2m instead of the current sh550,000.

Mallinga told the guests at the inauguration that the Government would borrow $600m from the World Bank to rehabilitate hospitals. Malinga also said plans were underway to streamline the recruitment system to change the current trend where a doctor completes his internship and waits for years.He told the board, headed by Dr. Samson Kintu, to ensure quality service at the hospital.

“You must steer the hospital to deliver the best quality care to improve the quality of life ,” he said. The medical superintendent, Dr. Benon Wanume, who is also a board member, thanked the Government and development partners for the financial support extended to the hospital.