Beijing and Lisbon must quickly train new doctors or risk a post-handover medical crisis in Macau, a leading health professional said. Mario Sigueira, a physiotherapist at the government-run Sao Januario Hospital and vice-president of the Macau Civil Servants' Association, fears patient care will suffer unless action is taken. He said the hospital especially needed to train more gynaecologists, radiographers, paediatricians and physiotherapists. Mr Sigueira also called on the Chinese side and those expected to run post-handover Macau to assure Portuguese doctors their status as medical professionals and citizens in the enclave was safe. Most health professionals working in Macau's largest hospital, the Sao Januario, are either Portuguese or Lisbon-trained. It is understood they are pushing for an assurance that posts will be open to them in Portugal if they remain in Macau after the return to Chinese rule on December 20 next year. 'Most of the Portuguese doctors want to stay but they don't know if the future administration wants them to stay in Macau,' Mr Sigueira said. 'In the near future, China will need to tell them if it wants them to stay.' Mr Sigueira's fears Macau does not have enough locally trained health professionals echo similar concerns expressed by others about the public service in general, and the Judiciary. 'We have doctors here from China who are learning specialist skills but they are usually on short-term contracts,' he said. 'I don't know why they are not allowed to stay here longer. 'Perhaps it is because there are a large number of them who want to come to Macau.' He said Macau Government and Chinese officials were aware of the problem and understood the need for a structured approach to solve it. 'The health department is run very much in the Portuguese style and the way it sees medical care is different from the Chinese hospital - Kiang Wu. It needs people and time to restructure.'
