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Doctors' strike adds to country's pain
IRIN News
August 26, 2008

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79994

Mehluli Moyo's frail looking mother wheels him into Mpilo central hospital in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city. Her son is suffering from an undiagnosed illness, has lost a huge amount of weight and is in constant pain.

Nurses at the main referral hospital in southern Zimbabwe advise his mother, Jestina Moyo, 59, that she should take her son to a private hospital, but she protests that she cannot afford the high consultation fees charged by private doctors. The nurses then suggest that she buy pain killers for him.

Mehluli, 35, is just one of thousands of Zimbabweans bearing the brunt of a strike by government doctors, who downed tools last week to protest against salaries that are quickly eroded by the official annual inflation rate of 11.2 million percent.

"This is painful to watch my son waste away like this. The hospital says the doctors are on strike, demanding high salaries, and there is nothing I can do for my son, as I have no money to take him to a private doctor," Jestina said, wiping the perspiration from her son's face with a towel.

"So I just have to take him back home and buy painkillers as the nurses have advised - I do not know what he is suffering from this time, and we needed a doctor to diagnose what the problem is this time," she told IRIN.

"All this is a reflection of the political system we have in the country; everyone is on strike at any given time, and things will not improve unless and until there is new leadership that will address the doctors' concerns and those of other professionals in the country," Jestina said. "As it is, my son will die a painful death unless I find money to take him to a private doctor."

State hospitals provide health services to the majority of Zimbabweans but the country's economic meltdown has brought shortages of most things, including basic foods, fuel and electricity.

The situation in the health sector has been compounded by acute staff shortages of medical personnel, drugs and equipment; government hospitals were barely functioning before the strike started.

Health for a few

Private doctors charge fees in foreign currency equivalents of between about US$35 and US$50, far beyond the reach of most people: unemployment is above 80 percent, and the salaries of those with jobs often do not even cover monthly transport costs.

In Mpilo hospital's emergency and burn wards, nurses are struggling to treat patients because there are few medicines or other resources. "We are just giving them ... [painkillers] as these are the only drugs available at the hospital. Since the strike started we have registered deaths which doctors could have dealt with if they were not on strike," a nurse, who declined to be identified, told IRIN.

Tawanda Sibanda was turned away from the hospital after seeking treatment for acute diarrhoea, and went to a traditional healer. "It is cheaper to visit the traditional healers and under the circumstances there is no choice, as private doctors are very expensive."

Zimbabwe's health workers have gone on strike several times in the past few years to try and keep up with the rocketing cost of living. Medical staff were awarded wage hikes ahead of the 29 March elections, but the effects of hyperinflation have rapidly devalued their salaries again.

The chairman of the Zimbabwe Medical Doctors Association (ZMDA), Amon Siveregi, reiterated to IRIN that his members would not return to work until all their demands had been met.

"The situation countrywide is that all doctors at all the country's referral hospitals are on strike, but we are negotiating with the government on a new package," Siveregi said.

"At the moment I am not at liberty to disclose to you our demands because of a confidentiality clause in our dealings that we signed with our principals."

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