Medics reminded to uphold ethics

CARE:Rights to receive good medical treatmentMedical practitioners were yesterday urged to uphold ethics and treat patients with empathy and humility.The call was made during national commemorations to mark the 51st anniversary to recognise patients who live with chronic diseases.During the anniversary, Dr Jean de Dieu Ngirabega, the Director General of Clinical services at the Ministry of Health said that such patients need special attention since their diseases are incurable.“It’s important to respect the patients’ rights by offering the right care and treatments without making them feel stigmatised,” he said.Ngirabega explained that it is a good way of enabling patients to understand that someone cares about them.“More to that, it increases hope for the patient to recover and that is our main goal as medical practitioners,” he said.Ngirabega also cautioned that as much as the patients have their rights to receive good medical treatment, it is also their obligation to follow the doctor’s prescription and guidelines.On his part, Dr Theobard Hategekimana, the Director at the Central University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK) revealed that the major acute infections at the hospital include HIV/Aids, Cancer and Diabetes.“Through counselling and providing moral support, we try as much as possible to help our patients not to lead hopeless lives,” he said.One of the patients identified as Patrick Ntakavuro observed that service delivery at the hospital has gradually improved.“From my experience here, there is a reasonable change in the manner in which medics handle patients’ needs,” he confessed.Ntakavuro has been confined in hospital for almost two months nursing a broken leg he injured in a motorcycle accident.

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Medics reminded to uphold ethics