End doctors’ strike: MDC-Renewal, NCA

via End doctors’ strike: MDC-Renewal, NCA 07/11/2014

THE MDC Renewal Team has urged President Robert Mugabe’s government to quickly resolve the doctors’ strike to avoid further crippling the health delivery system and loss of lives.

In a statement to the media, the Tendai Biti-led group said the social, economic and political crisis is a vivid illustration of how “the centre can no longer hold”.

“The continuous deterioration and collapse of the (health delivery system) is reflective of the centre that is no longer holding, with the ruling party concentrating on petty factional fights while the real issues of the day such as health service delivery are left unattended by the Zanu PF leadership,” the party said.

“The on-going medical doctors’ strike is a serious indictment on the government (and) is a clear sign of failure, cluelessness and lack of care.”

Junior doctors have been on strike for the past two weeks with no sign that the government was moving to resolve the impasse. The doctors are demanding a review of their salaries and an improvement in their conditions of service.

The lowest paid doctor earns about $300 a month. The doctors are demanding salaries of $1 200 a month.

Zimbabwe’s health delivery system, once a model on the African continent, is under severe stress as it is battling a serious manpower crisis as well as shortages of medicines.

In a separate statement, the opposition National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said Zimbabwe was at the risk of yet another cholera crisis like that of 2008 that claimed about 4 000 lives.

“The ongoing strike by junior doctors now joined by their seniors is a grave threat to patients in need of treatment at government hospitals.

“The most affected are referral hospitals like Parirenyatwa, Harare Central and United Bulawayo. There is no clear indication as to when the doctors will go back to work to attend to patients in need of treatment.

“The continued strike and lack of an appropriate response from government to address this situation poses a serious public health scare especially in the event of a deadly disease outbreak such as Ebola or Cholera,” said the party’s deputy information chief Anastacia Moyo.

“The Zanu PF government is failing to negotiate with representatives of the striking doctors from the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) to ensure that they go back to work,” Moyo said.

The MDC Renewal Team said it is the role of the government of the day to provide social services to the citizens but sadly the government is failing to provide even the most basic of all services.

“Section 76(1) gives every Zimbabwean the right to basic health care services including reproductive health in contrast to what we have seen happening at state health institutions in the recent past and in particular in the past two weeks when junior doctors went on strike.

“The state of affairs at hospitals particularly at the casualty section, where patients requiring emergency attention are left unattended and to die is inhumane,” the party said.