Ministry recalls retired health workers

The ministry of health has started the process of recalling retired health workers to address the current human resource shortage.
This has been revealed by the permanent secretary Dr. Asuman Lukwago who says the glaring human resource gaps are mostly seen in the rural health facilities.
Mr Lukwago says the move will help the ministry to tap into the wealth of experience of these health workers, in addition to bridging the human resource gap.
In December last year, government said it was set to recruit more than 1,000 health workers to fill the gaps created by personnel who have recently retired and those who have absconded from work.
The chairperson of Health Service commission, Prof Pius Okong, said the countrywide exercise will be done before this financial year ends.
According to Mr Okong, there are 39,000 health workers in various government health facilities, and this number is so low to handle the influx of patients seeking treatment.
He said the majority of the districts have only 60 per cent of the posts filled, because there is no money to fill the rest of the posts, and this must be addressed urgently.