---
title: "Zimbabwe Doctors Strike Over Working Conditions, Drugs Shortage"
description: "Doctors at state-run Zimbabwean hospitals began a strike to demand better working conditions, saying inadequate pay, a shortage of drugs and a deteriorating health-care system need immediate government attention."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-12-03-zimbabwe-doctors-strike-over-working-conditions-drugs-shortage/"
published: "2018-12-03T12:19:15"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 89
---

# Zimbabwe Doctors Strike Over Working Conditions, Drugs Shortage

> Doctors at state-run Zimbabwean hospitals began a strike to demand better working conditions, saying inadequate pay, a shortage of drugs and a deteriorating health-care system need immediate government attention.

By Bloomberg · Published 3 December 2018, 14:19 SAST

## Content

The work stoppage compounds an economic crisis that Zimbabwean banks have warned may spawn a hyper-inflationary spiral, similar to one the country experienced a decade ago. As a shortage of foreign-exchange leaves the government unable to import basic raw materials like food and fuel, doctors are facing an “acute shortage” of medicines and equipment, according to a statement emailed by the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association.

“Doctors are now finding it impossible to continue discharging their services in hospitals,” the association’s national committee said in the Dec. 1 statement. DM