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Zimbabwe Doctors Strike Over Working Conditions, Drugs Shortage

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa (C) gives his inaugural speech to thousands of people who gathered at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, 26 August 2018. EPA-EFE/AARON UFUMELI

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.

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

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