Doctors at the country’s public hospitals have painted a grim picture of the conditions that they have to work under.
In some cases, they reportedly use condoms for gloves and bread plastic bags to collect patients’ urine. Hospitals also have shortages of basic medicines such as painkillers and contraceptives. In most cases, doctors do not have masks and goggles a situation that exposes them to fluids, blood spillage, HIV and hepatitis B.
Prince Butau, treasurer of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) had this to say:
It’s so sad. The hospitals are empty, the patients are being turned away to die somewhere else.
One of the striking doctors who spoke to NewsZimbabwe.com said:
What we were doing was not to treat patients. Patients feel you have done something but you would have done nothing. That’s not medicine.
… I am being betrayed by the government. It is useless for me to continue working in this environment. It is not helping me, it is not helping my mother and it is not even helping my patients. It is a difficult time for everyone in this country.
Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo said that the government is in the process of procuring the essentials needed for the hospitals. Said Moyo:
The challenges are huge but not insurmountable. Already we have begun buying medicines, protective clothing and other essentials. It will come right.
Doctors embarked on a 40-day long strike which started on December 1, 2018, and only called off the strike ‘begrudgingly’ after they were allegedly threatened with failure for their internship.
Related:
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Junior Doctors Shelved Strike After Consultant Doctors Threatened To Fail Their Internship
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‘We Are Forced To Use Condoms As Medical Gloves’ – Striking Doctors Confess
How many times can the Zimbabwean government “start buying medicine and essentials” it’s seems after every few days They are starting to buy again. These ruling assholes are soo evil. Some of the most evil men on earth are in government here in zim Ed Chiwenga Sb. And legions of evil henchmen