Editorial
Health sector reeling in politicisation
A major cause for concern that needs attending to
THE health sector whose staple is specialisation is reported to have been politicised to an worrisome extent in the last four months, with most of the important posts in big public sector hospitals going to ruling party loyalists working under the banner of "Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad(SCP)." Medics identified with the opposition camp, including those said to be maintaining neutrality, have been sent to remote areas, or given unattractive postings.
It seems the pro-AL SCP is calling the shots in health sector where a doctor's professional excellence and skills should have weighed more heavily than anything else in matters like promotion or appointment to a particular position. When political affiliation of a specialist is considered the sole criterion for placing him in a top position, merit is most likely to be a casualty. And, more importantly, the quality of service will be badly compromised. For instance, it is learned that a diploma holder in cardiology has been appointed a resident physician at the NICVD, though in the past all resident physicians had FCPS or MD degrees. A politically biased decision is so squinted that it glosses over the basic requirement of a candidate's ability to deliver in a certain post.
True, the situation was more or less the same under the BNP-led government, when the DAB wreaked havoc through their partisan activities. But it is also true that they are not believed to have left any worthwhile example to follow. After all, one wrong cannot be righted by another. Doctors, like any other citizen, can have political opinion, but to allow such a view to cloud their professional judgement and vision is bound to prove harmful to their noble call of duty for which people would like to put them on a pedestal of honour that they must strive to protect and live up to in their enlightened self-interest.
It so happens that the health minister is president of the SCP. So the issue of the SCP becoming too demanding and meddlesome is something that the minister himself will have to address and resolve. He needs to do it for the sake of enhancing his credibility and protecting the good name of the government which has come to power on a mandate for change. And where do the people look for change the most but in the domain of public health service.
The quality of medical services cannot be allowed to be compromised either through a lack of congenial working atmosphere, exacerbating rift in any organisation or through a failure to put right men and women in the right places in pursuit of a policy for optimal utilisation of the expertise and skill available to the health sector, irrespective of political labels of the doctors.
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