Doctors at public health institutions have been on strike since December 1 this year. The Minister of Health and Child Care, Obadiah Moyo has tried several times in vain to persuade them to return to work.
Doctors have decried poor working conditions were they have been forced to improvise for them to attend to patients.
In an interview with ZimLive, Prince Butau, the treasurer of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) said
People are dying under our watch. As doctors, we’re also not psychologically in a good place because of the effects of the economy including price hikes and fuel shortages.
There’s no personal protective equipment. Sometimes we’re forced to wear condoms when checking patients. Doctors are asking, until when practising bush medicine?
The doctors have since dropped one of their key demands, to be paid in United States dollars. They have, however, insisted that their RTGS salaries should be commensurate with the cost of living.
Related:
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Junior Doctors Demand ‘Evidence On The Ground’ Before They Call Strike Off
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Doctors Concede That Govt Has No Capacity To Pay Salaries In US Dollars
More: ZimLive
Having personally worked at government hospitals for many years…this is the tip of the iceberg