Trainee medical doctors working at Malawi’s four central hospitals under non-paid arrangement have withdrawn their labour demanding the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to place them on paid internship.
The doctors were working at Kamuzu, Queen Elizabeth, Zomba and Mzuzu central hospitals in various departments, including internal medicine, surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology.
Three intern medical doctors confirmed in separate interviews yesterday that they have started boycotting this week due to the ministry’s delay to transition them to paid internships.
One of the doctors who spoke on condition of anonymity said 29 out of 46 trainee doctors commenced internship between November 2025 and January 2026 on the understanding that they would be transitioned onto the normal government payroll in January 2026.
Said the source: “Despite various engagements, there has been no clear timeline from the ministry for deployment of this cohort of intern medical officers so we have resorted to boycotting work.”
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The 46 medical doctors completed their studies at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences last year and are required to undergo an 18-month mandatory internship to acquire licence to practice.
Ministry of Health and Sanitation spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe said the ministry has not received any reports of labour withdrawal by intern medical doctors from central hospitals.
However, he said the ministry is working on the recruitment of the intern medical officers although he did not provide a timeline.
Said Chikumbe: “Once finalized, a list of the new cohort will be announced. We greatly appreciate their services because our hospitals are still under-staffed.”
Meanwhile, the Society of Medical Doctors (SMD) and the Medical Doctors Union of Malawi (MDUM) have called on the ministry to fast-track the recruitment process, stating that the interns are usually the first point of contact for patients.
MDUM president Henry Makowa said shortage of interns in hospitals results in increased patient waiting time, affecting service delivery.
SMD vice-secretary general Gracian Harawa said the society supports the withdrawal of labour, noting that intern medical doctors cover long on-call hours and should not be expected to do so without proper remuneration.
As of 2022, World Health Organisation estimated that the doctor-to-patient ratio in Malawi was at 0.5 to 10 000 in 2022, compared to the worldwide density of 17.2 to 10 000.
