Govt moves to stem health sector brain drain

The government of Zimbabwe hopes to stem the tide of medical professionals leaving the country through a new bill that allows for public sector health workers' salaries to be set separately from other civil servants.

The Health Services Bill, which passed through parliament last week, effectively removed all health service personnel from the employ of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and placed them under a yet to be appointed Health Services Board.

However, the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) has warned that the newly gazetted bill may not be enough to improve conditions of service in the health sector, as long as the ministry of health does not control its own budget.

Government has hailed the bill as a breakthrough in its bid to improve conditions of service and remuneration in the health sector and stop the exodus of qualified health personnel from the country.

Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa told IRIN that the Health Services Board, once established, will oversee the improvement of conditions of service of health care workers.

"We expect the board to improve conditions of service and renumeration for all health staff, professional and non-professional. The problem we had with the PSC is that they employ all civil servants and as such cannot attend to the special needs that have developed in the health sector over the years," he said.

"There was trouble, as all civil servants would demand inclusion each time the ministry called for salary hikes and other improvements [for health sector staff]. It was even impossible to reward staff by way of promotions as that decision lay with the PSC as their employer," Parirenyatwa noted.

"The new board shall be directly responsible for all staffing and service matters in the health sector. We aim for an overall improvement of the sector so that we can be able to attract and retain professional staff. Judging by the improvements we are planning on, brain drain will soon be a thing of the past," Parirenyatwa added.

Billy Rigava, the president of ZIMA told IRIN he was unconvinced that the Health Services Board would be able to improve conditions of service for workers.

"I do not think it is correct to say the mere creation of a board will improve conditions. People are leaving because of poor remuneration and conditions of service. The new board may make recommendations for improvements but, like the PSC, they will still have to beg the ministry of finance for money," Rigava said.

"That alone clearly [implies] that it will not have the power to implement its own decisions. It is common knowledge that government rarely has money. So the creation of the board is a non-starter because there will still be the usual delays that will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction, strikes and professionals will continue to leave the country," Rigava added.

He said an ideal situation would be the incorporation of a representative of the finance ministry to advise the new board and ensure that any budgetary needs are speedily attended to. The new bill also classifies the health sector as an essential service, meaning employees cannot strike.

The ministry proposed the bill in December last year at the height of a two-month strike by hospital doctors and nurses. The proposal drew heavy criticism at the time from bodies representing health professionals as they feared that it would deny them the right to protest poor remuneration and conditions of service.

Efforts to get a comment from the Hospital Doctors Association of Zimbabwe were unsuccessful.