Medical consultants to meet government reps as crippling Drs’ strike continues

By Violet Gonda
19 July 2006

A committee of four medical consultants has been set up by senior doctors from Parirenyatwa and Harare Hospitals to mediate talks between the striking junior doctors and the Ministry of Health on Thursday.
Nearly 300 doctors from Zimbabwe’s main referral hospitals - United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH), Mpilo Hospital, Parirenyatwa Hospital and Harare Central Hospital – downed tools last Thursday and vowed not to return to work over salary increments and working conditions.
The Minister of Health David Parirenyatwa has sought to respond to the doctors grievances by issuing veiled threats in the state controlled media saying he does not talk to people who are on strike. But Dr Kuda Nyamutikwa, president of the Hospital Doctors Association, said such statements by the authorities only serve to prolong the strike.
He said their grievances are quite clear. At present junior doctors are getting a basic salary of Z$56million which they say is way below the poverty datum line. According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe a basket of food for a family of 6 for a month is now pegged at Z$61million.
As part of their perks doctors are also requesting car loans. Dr Nyamutikwa said they cannot afford to purchase even second hand cars, like a Mazda 323, which costs around Z$500 million.
Another of their grievances is the fact that the ministry has extended the duration of housemanship by another year, to be served in rural areas.
The medical practitioners also want the ministry to elaborate on the issue of representation as they say the Health Service Board denied responsibility when they took their grievances to them.
But while the dispute continues the people most affected are the patients who are being denied their right to medical treatment.
Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa who visited Parirenyatwa Hospital on Tuesday said the situation there, like the other major hospitals, is critical. He said the hospital was virtually empty as patients are sent away without treatment. A skeletal staff of expatriate doctors from Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo and some staff from the national army and air force are said to be handling emergency cases. He said the situation has been worsened by the fact that staff from the x-ray department are also on strike and patients were also not accessing medication because the pharmacy department was closed.
The president of the Hospital Doctors Association said it is true that the strike by doctors has resulted in patients suffering the most; “But as for us doctors, I wouldn’t say it would be fair to blame doctors for this strike.”
He said they have tried, several times, to engage the Health Service Board into meetings to try and solve the doctors’ problems without going for industrial action but ended up resorting to strike action because the board denied responsibility for looking into the affairs of the doctors.
Dr Nyamutikwa believes the Ministry is to blame: “As well as the Minister himself who has remained adamant and has said he will not talk to doctors who are on strike. But as long as he maintains this stance it prolongs the length of the strike.”
The doctors await the outcome of Thursday’s meeting between the President of the Medical and General Practitioners Council, Dr Mabhiza the Permanent Secretary for Health and four consultants; Dr Chirisa a paediatrician, Dr Chiware a gynaecologist, Dr Gwakura a physician and Dr Shumba an anaesthetist.
Health officials could not be reached for comment.