PHNOM PENH: Doctors have been urged to respect and honour the medical profession, ensure their professionalism and abide by ethics.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said doctors had to change their attitude for the better as the public had been questioning their professional ethics, according to The Phnom Penh Post.
‘There is a need for doctors to observe strict professional ethics. While the majority are good, there are still small points. Like the old saying, ‘When a basket of fish becomes rotten, so do all the fish’.’
Hun Sen was speaking at a graduation ceremony for 2,588 University of Health Sciences (UHS) students at the Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre recently.
He appealed to health officials to ensure doctors pay attention to their words and not to discriminate patients.
‘A human life, whether poor or rich, is the same.’
The prime minister added that if the issue was not addressed, the public would continue to have complaints despite the government spending millions of dollars on healthcare.
‘Doctors should never put money first.
‘Private hospitals often refer patients to state hospitals if they can’t treat them. So I ask both state and private hospitals to carry out their activities in line with ethics.’
The prime minister dismissed claims that only 10 per cent of Cambodian doctors were good.
‘It’s not true. This is a serious insult to our doctors and we can’t accept that.’
However, Hun Sen acknowledged that some doctors had an attitude problem, lacking ethics and professionalism. He urged those in the medical profession to not trivialise such complaints, but rather address them to improve services.
‘Criticism is not necessarily bad. It can lead to improvements if addressed accordingly.’
Health Minister Mam Bun Heng said UHS was a leading Cambodian institution in training medical nurses, one that was recognised internationally.
‘In addition to upgrading its study programmes, the university develops the core capacity of students by allowing them to learn directly in the laboratory before they go out and gain experience in hospitals.’