Patients become desperate as doctors strike continues
By Tererai Karimakwenda
03 January 2007

The consensus from those on the ground in Zimbabwe is that patients have become more desperate as the strike by junior doctors continues without a solution in sight. The industrial action by doctors who are responsible for most of the work at state hospitals has been on for about 2 weeks now as they protest against poor wages and working conditions. There are reports that senior doctors joined their junior colleagues last week in solidarity, but since communication networks have been extremely overloaded and difficult in Zimbabwe, we were unable to reach the proper authorities to confirm this.
We did manage to reach Dr. Douglas Gwatidzo, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), and he confirmed that communication between the junior doctors themselves and the government has been difficult. Regarding the strike he said there was a marked increase in the number of patients visiting private clinics and they are all complaining that no doctors were working at the state run facilities. Gwatidzo said: “From where I work which is the private sector we have seen patients that are coming in from that side confirming that there is nothing going on and that there are no doctors working.”

Meanwhile reports of desperate suffering patients continue to surface in Zimbabwe’s media outlets. The Zim Online news site reported Wednesday that a pregnant mother and the unborn baby died after her placenta burst. The story also revealed another desperate scenario in which a woman unable to withstand labour pains due to lack of medical attention from nurses on duty, bolted out naked from a maternity ward at Lady Rodwell Maternity in Bulawayo.
The lack of adequate facilities and medication have played a major role in the striking doctors’ demands. The doctors are asking for a basic salary of Z$5 million. Currently they earn Z$56 800 a month plus $57 000 in housing, transport and general allowances. And there is also the issue of broken promises made in July by the Ministry of Health. The doctors were promised better working conditions and a review of their salaries. This never happened. Dr. Gwatidzo said there has been no official communication to them from the government.

According to a VOA Studio 7 news report, a representative of the striking doctors said the health minister Dr David Parirenyatwa called off a meeting scheduled for Tuesday “telling the doctors he would only negotiate with them once they had returned to work.” He also allegedly warned them his ministry would take "drastic " measures against them if they did not end the strike.
We will continue to seek information from both sides in this critical situation.