Staff at state hospitals go on strike

A strike by Zimbabwe’s government hospital doctors over non-payment of on-call allowances continued over the weekend, news reports said on Monday. President of the Hospital Doctors Association, Sibert Mandega, was quoted as saying that the strike was continuing because government had failed to address the payment of allowances. Mandega said doctors hoped the Public Services Commission would act urgently to avoid a disaster. He said all junior to middle-level doctors employed by government hospitals across the country had withdrawn their services. Meanwhile, Zimbabwean Health Minister Timothy Stamps was quoted as saying that the strike was illegal and that the doctors would be held responsible for any deaths that might occur.