Doctors strike continues

As state doctors continue their strike in Zimbabwe, the situation in public hospitals worsens daily, a trade union spokesman told IRIN on Thursday. Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) information officer Mlamleli Sibanda said that while nurses had returned to work, the continuing stayaway by doctors was crippling public health services. Doctors at state hospitals have been on strike since October, demanding pay hikes of up to 8,000 percent. They argue that their monthly salaries can barely cover basic expenses like rent and groceries, as inflation, currently running at about 450 percent, continues to soar. Tensions were raised this week when the public service commission ordered police to arrest doctors who failed to turn up for work. A week ago Zimbabwe's labour court declared the doctors' strike illegal and ordered that they return to work. But the doctors have refused to do so until they are assured that their grievances will be addressed. "They have not arrested any of the doctors as yet. The doctors have not returned to work, and about 18 or so have resigned and are going out of the country [in search] of greener pastures. We expect the situation to get worse in coming days as ministry is now becoming heavy-handed. More will resign to look for greener pastures elsewhere," Sibanda said. In the meantime, the situation in hospitals was "terrible", he added. "Only nurses are working [at state hospitals] and without doctors it's very difficult, so the situation at hospitals is very, very terrible. You must also realise that a lot of Zimbabweans cannot afford to go to private practice doctors, as quite a lot of people do not have medical aid. Medication is also very expensive, so the government hospitals are the ones a lot of average Zimbabweans depend on to get treatment," Sibanda explained. IRIN was unable to elicit comment from the Ministry of Health on the matter, but representatives of the strikers have reportedly met with government officials to discuss their grievances. The strike has forced state hospitals to operate with a skeleton staff of nurses, foreign doctors and redeployed military medical staff.