OH GHANAIAN DOCTORS, GIVE US A BREAK!

I am yet to encounter professions in this country, who always seize the least opportunity to make noise, other than our dear doctors! Doctors in Ghana make too much noise! They are always creating fusses! I am tired of hearing or listening to how important their job is! I wonder how God himself might sometimes feel, when he watches our actions and inactions! He is supposed to be the one and only! Rather sadly, our dear doctors want it all! Each day, it is one demand after the other! Over the years, this issue has persisted and right now, it almost seems like a tradition or routine! It is an annual event! Indeed, they need not be told, for they love that, and yet, I would again comment, that our doctors should give us a break!

Doctors are not the only professionals who spent so many years in school, as they usually claim! They are also not the only qualified ones, or perhaps, the best students, as they make it seem! Most certainly, they are not the only important professionals, this country can boast of! If anything, they owe this nation much more than they are willing to admit! A lot of our resources were invested in their education, and yet, after leaving school, it becomes a battle; their usual bluff! One sit-down strike after the other! Give us a break! This nation can certainly not spend her entire resources on a group of professionals simply because they regard themselves as the most important! Ghana spends enough on the training of her doctors and other health personnel! Our country deserves better from this group! This also goes for our nurses!

This country of ours has several other professionals, who are all playing equally important and life-saving roles from various angles! We have farmers, fishermen, food vendors, manufacturers, engineers, bankers, economist, teachers, and lawyers, to mention but a few. All these play several equally important roles. Imagine a day when the technicians involved in power supply decide to go on a break. Quite recently, let us examine the problems that have come with our power outages! Let us also consider water supply and distribution; imagine what would happen when all those responsible decide to go on a break! What about our law enforcement officers; what would become of us all, if they all decide to take a break? But it always has to be the doctors!

Most professionals in Ghana are dissatisfied! Yes, I am also dissatisfied with my income! But what do I do? I just do not get up one morning and take a hike! In fact, a lot of workers are not well-motivated! There are so many people laboring and toiling for practically nothing, in this country of ours! The only difference here is that, they hardly take a hike! For our doctors of course, that is their slogan! Rather sadly and annoyingly, during these strike actions, patients are usually referred by these doctors to their private hospitals! Yes, they practically close down the government hospitals, and then quickly run to their individually owned hospitals for consultation! Very selfish and heartless indeed!

Doctors in Ghana always play on their lifesaving roles! Yes, they are lifesavers, but must not constantly rob it in the face of their patients! They expect to receive as much as their counterparts in the developed countries do, but let us be realistic! In truth, no value can be placed on the role of a doctor, and so, our doctors must desist from this practice! Their profession is more of service, than reward! On all the occasions doctors in this nation have embarked on a strike, several lives have been lost. In as much as we would all fight to ensure that the government attends to their demands, they equally owe it to this nation to remain at post! No money is worth the life of a person! They should be careful of their actions and inactions because in the end, we all have to give accounts of our lives!

What about the non-performing doctors or other health practitioners that are in abundance in our various healthcare centers, especially the governmental ones? Such carry out their duties in a rude and inhumane manner! What measures are being put in place to monitor the activities of these people? In this country, can be found doctors, who hardly show up at work! In our various governmental hospitals, these people usually report late, and then leave early! Of course, they can be found working tirelessly in their private hospitals! Many of us have stories to tell! And yet, they all scream each year, strike! They are all making demands, and expect it to be met! Only in Ghana!

They are doctors, but certainly, not God! This country has other equally important professionals who equally deserve better conditions of service! The periodic strike actions of doctors must be put to rest! Our government needs to as a matter of urgency, meet with their administrators, in order to find a lasting solution to this persistent problem! This issue is a matter of life and death! It has to do with the lives of several people! In the past, several lives have been lost as a result of our dissatisfied doctors, and so, must not be allowed to continue! Their needs ought to be met or perhaps, a compromise, reached! Again, I would admonish our doctors to be more sympathetic to the plight of their patients and not solely watch out for their interests! In truth, no monetary value can be put on their profession!

Anna Esi Hanson (nnhanson2@yahoo.com), Takoradi.