Last week, the Health minister, Dr Agnes Binagwaho, made a surprise visit to University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK) and discovered that some doctors were absent from duty. Absenteeism in any profession is unethical and compromises service delivery, especially in public service sector.  

While the minister was right to call for disciplinary action against doctors who were not on duty, it is important that the issue of absenteeism is viewed from a bigger perspective of the challenges that the health sector is facing.

Shortage of skilled medical personnel in the public health sector and poor remuneration has tempted many doctors to engage in private practice even during official working hours. This shortage has created a situation where the private sector and government are scrambling for the same few professionals in the sector, yet the private sector is more lucrative.

However, this should not be an excuse for doctors who take up public service jobs and at the same time want to engage in private work during official working hours. The Health ministry should focus on fixing the shortage of skilled personnel and brain drain in the sector.

What is clear is that doctor absenteeism is just a tip of the ice berg of the challenges in the health sector.  

Indeed, the ministry should also listen to the grievances of doctors and address them. For example, the doctors that this newspaper spoke to said that a recent government directive proposed a grading system of doctors that would determine salaries, but nothing has been communicated to the doctors yet. Above all, a smooth working relationship between the medical fraternity and the ministry is critical if the current challenges are to be addressed appropriately. Blame games will not solve the problem.