Allexer Namundjembo
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament Winnie Moongo says the shortages of doctors and specialist clinicians continue to strain public hospitals, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
Moongo said the public health system operates with too few doctors, most of whom are based in urban centres, leaving rural communities without adequate care.
“It is unacceptable that rural populations continue to struggle to access basic medical care while doctors and specialists remain concentrated in a few areas,” Moongo said in parliament on Tuesday.
“This imbalance threatens the effectiveness of public healthcare and the wellbeing of our people.”
She raised concern over the lack of specialists in key fields such as anesthesiology, neurosurgery, infectious diseases, critical care and oncology.
She said the shortages limit the system’s ability to deal with complex and life-threatening cases.
Moongo said high vacancy rates, poor retention of medical professionals and limited local training capacity continue to weaken service delivery in public hospitals.
“Addressing these workforce shortages and building strong local medical capacity must be treated as an urgent national priority,” she said.
Moongo directed questions to the minister of health, Esperance Luvindao, requesting a full breakdown of doctors employed in the public sector.
She asked for a distinction between doctors trained locally and those trained abroad.
She also asked how many qualified doctors are currently unemployed and what plans are in place to place them in public service, especially in rural and underserved regions.
In addition, she requested details on the ministry’s plans to expand training and recruitment in understaffed specialities and measures being taken to retain doctors and specialists in public hospitals where vacancies remain high.
The concerns reflect a long-standing problem in the public health sector. For years, official reports, parliamentary debates and media coverage have pointed to staffing shortages.
The ministry has previously acknowledged that parts of the system operate with major staffing gaps.
In public statements, Minister Luvindao had warned that healthcare workers are overstretched and that service delivery is at risk if vacancies remain unfilled.
