Harare City clinics shut down as health workers strike

By Tererai Karimakwenda
30 April, 2008

Now is not a good time to be pregnant in Zimbabwe’s capital. A strike by Harare City’s health workers that started last Monday has forced all city clinics to shut down. All patients, including pregnant women, are being turned away. Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa said nurses and all essential staff walked off the job demanding decent salaries and better working conditions. He visited several locations and observed that only senior nurses were on site. All doors were shut.

The nurses currently earn Z$450,000 per month. And they are seeking a 1000% increase which they say will allow them to a basic life. The clinic fee for expecting mothers at the city-run facilities is Z$150,000. Private hospitals charge a whole lot more.

As for the working conditions, Muchemwa said the city clinics are operating without the most basic supplies and essential medication. There is no protective clothing and some nurses even resorted to buying their own uniforms.

Doctors, nurses, teachers and civil servants in other sectors have been striking on and off for years now as government fails to find a permanent solution. Prices for basic commodities keep increasing drastically due to hyperinflation and this means salaries must also continue to go up. There is consensus among experts, observers, civic society and the opposition that only wholesale economic and political changes can resolve this ongoing crisis.