It has emerged that over 60 medical laboratory technicians who graduated from the College of Medicine from 2014 to date have not yet been absorbed into government hospitals.
Medical Laboratory Doctors Union of Malawi said it has on several occasions discussed the issue with the government.
But the government says the development is due to lack of resources to hire all the graduating medical personnel.
In an interview on Tuesday, Ministry of Health Spokesperson, Adrian Chikumbe, said the doctors are encouraged to try their luck in private hospitals as government cannot afford to recruit all the doctors.
“It is the wish of the government to absorb all the doctors who graduate but we cannot afford. Of course, we also use money from the Global Fund to cater for the recruitment but still it is not enough,” he said.
Medical Laboratory Doctors Union of Malawi representative, Philemon Banda, described the development as worrisome.
“We urge government through its Department of Human Resources Management and Development to consider the graduate doctors while fulfilling its own commitment to train medical doctors,” he said.
According to the Union, vacancy rate for specialist medical personnel in the country is at 83 percent, after health officials conducted a headcount in 2015.
Out of the three cohorts that have graduated from the College of Medicine in Medical Laboratory Sciences from 2014, only 11 have been recruited.
Graduate doctors in the field of medical laboratory sciences do not undergo government’s internship, unlike those pursuing programmes such as physiotherapy and pharmacy.
Upon graduation, the doctors become qualified and, however, wait for interviews to be recruited by government.
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