On absenteeism in hospitals

Dr. Zaman, who seems to be suffering a pang of conscience, is not alone. There are hundreds of doctors who still continue to tread the same path of AWL that he and others like him have left as examples. To add to that, many doctors like Dr. Zaman have just not ended with AWL; they have left the country for their personal gains though the government subsidised their education so that they would serve the people of Bangladesh. Thus, a mere expression of regret is like pouring salt into the wound. Dr. Zaman and people in his shoes need to be reminded that they have not just set this example of AWL that still remains deeply entrenched among their successors in this so-called noble profession; that each day they serve the rich people in the developed nations, their countrymen in Bangladesh are dying due to lack of medical attention, people who paid for their education.

If Dr. Zaman has indeed a conscience and if his fellow doctors who have betrayed their countrymen feel the same way, the only testimony of that would be to pay back what they have taken from the people of Bangladesh.

These doctors are all rich people, many with flourishing practice. Let them set up charitable hospitals, take time from their practices and come to Bangladesh and pay back what they owe. In next-door India, expatriate doctors do this and many of the leading hospitals of India benefit from their expat doctors who regularly take time off from their overseas practices and pay back their dues to their countrymen.