Chamisa tells Mnangagwa Zimbabwe cannot be open for business when it is not open for health

Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa today told President Emmerson Mnangagwa to address the issue of striking doctors saying the country cannot be open for business when it is not open for health.

Speaking after a tour of Harare Hospital, Chamisa said Zimbabwe’s medical staff worked under very difficult conditions and the government had to prioritise the health of citizens.

He said doctors and medical personnel in countries like South Africa and Rwanda earned far much more and enjoyed better working conditions than the health workers in Zimbabwe.

Chamisa pledged that his incoming government would take seriously its responsibility particularly in the social sectors such as health and education. 

Zimbabwe’s doctors have been on strike for the past two weeks demanding better salaries and allowances.

The strike was started by junior doctors but some senior doctors and nurses have also joined them in solidarity paralysing the country’s major referral hospitals.

Full statement

Thursday, 15 March 2018

President Chamisa visits stranded patients at Harare hospital

President Nelson Chamisa today visited stranded patients at Harare hospital following a strike by doctors and senior medical personnel that has crippled the country’s health services sector.

After the tour, President Chamisa immediately called on the government to look into the very reasonable demands by the country’s doctors, whom he said were earning far much lower than their peers in the region and on the continent.

The doctors are striking over low salaries, on-call allowances, poor working conditions and lack of essential drugs, among other reasons.

President Chamisa toured various wards at the hospital speaking to patients before calling on the hospital’s chief executive to appreciate the enormity of the crisis at one of the country’s major national health referral centres. The chief executive told President Chamisa that the outpatients department had been seriously affected by the work stoppage by doctors.

Addressing journalists outside the hospital’s maternity wing at the hospital, President Chamisa urged the government to urgently look into the genuine grievances by the country’s doctors.

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