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Zimbabwe fires 550 doctors and radiographers over 'unlawful' strike

A month-long impasse between government and doctors over pay and conditions has left Zimbabwe’s health care system in a critical state, after the government suspended more than 500 medical staff. The Guardian reports that the government refuses to give in to the doctors’ demands and has ordered striking doctors to return to their posts.

Acting president, retired general Constantino Chiwenga fired more than 550 doctors and radiographers on Christmas Eve over the strike which the government ruled as unlawful.

Junior doctors in Zimbabwe earn just $329 a month, despite many years of training and study.

The report says doctors are calling for increased monthly salaries and on-call pay, and for the government to address the shortage of medical supplies and equipment in hospitals.

Since July, Zimbabwe has suffered an economic downturn, characterised by soaring inflation, a drop in standards of living and disposable income, worsening social services and an acute shortage of essential goods and services. The situation was worsened by the 1 August shootings in Harare, where six civilians died, in circumstances largely condemned by the international community.

The report says under the rule of Robert Mugabe and his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwean medical practitioners have faced harsh working conditions and stagnating pay. The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) has vowed to continue with the strike until government meets their demands. Other junior doctors who have recently graduated from various medical schools have also vowed to refuse any employment offers from government, saying they cannot be employed under “duress”.

Junior doctors expressed dismay at what they feel is the government’s lack of concern. Roseline Makaza said: “It is tough to be a doctor in Zimbabwe. You are forced to work inhumane hours. I’m on call every other day attending to patients, I’m a medical practitioner not a student. I graduated and I deserve to be treated with respect. All I want is to plan my life. I can’t even plan my next move because what I am earning is too little to even take care of my family.”

Due to the prolonged strike, junior doctors’ salaries have been frozen pending their return to work.

The report says the ZHDA is worried that the strike would further cripple the country’s health system. ZHDA spokesperson, Mthabisi Bhebhe said: “The demands that have been made by doctors have not been met and now the citizens and our patients are suffering the most.” Zimbabwe last experienced a prolonged doctors strike, which almost crippled the country’s health delivery system, in 2008 at the height of the hyperinflationary period.

Another striking doctor, Wallace Hlambelo complained in the report that he had nothing to show for the years of study, adding that he was still dependent on his parents. “I feel like I am overburdening my parents. The money we earn is not enough to take (care) of them,” he said.

The report says Chiwenga fired thousands of nurses in April after they too went on strike over poor pay and conditions. The nurses were later reinstated after mediation with nurses’ council.

 

Government attempts to hire recently qualified doctors to replace striking medical professionals hit a wall as graduates snubbed the offer in Zimbabwe, reports The Times. The country has two medical schools housed at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), with a combined average of about 40 graduates annually.

In a letter addressed to the Health Services Board (HSB), the graduates sang the same tune as their seniors. “We are greatly disturbed by the ministry’s efforts to undermine the genuine grievances raised by our fellow doctors and the move to try and recruit us to cover the gap created. We want to categorically state that we are in full support of our senior colleagues and believe in dialogue rather than duress,” they said.

“As senior doctors, we feel that health service units work as teams. Therefore, the absence of the juniors and middle-level doctors, and any other members of the team, critically compromises all aspect of health service delivery to patients, their communities and the public at large,” Zimbabwe Medical Doctors Association (Zima) secretary-general Sacrifice Chirisa is quoted in the report as saying.

By Saturday 29 December, 2018, the country’s biggest referral hospital, Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, had started turning away patients.

Since early December, Harare has been on cholera high alert after cases were detected in Mount Darwin. Cholera-related cases were being referred to Harare’s Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital.

[link url="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/dec/31/zimbabwe-health-crisis-doctors-pay-strike"]The Guardian report[/link]
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-31-bid-to-replace-striking-doctors-hits-a-wall-in-zimbabwe/"]The Times report[/link]

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