Zimbabwe’s Doctors Defy Governments Demands to Go Back to Work

Doctors refused to comply with the Zimbabwean governments demands that they go back to work by 08:00 CAT this morning.

The ultimatum came through Health Minister Obadiah Moyo over the weekend, in an effort to bring the month-long stand-off over doctors pay to an end.

The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZDHA) released a statement on Sunday expressing their regret over Health Minister Moyo’s comments.  

They said “[w]e note with sadness and deep concern the comments made by the Minister of Health and Child Care Obadiah Moyo on Saturday.  

Doctors country-wide are not enjoying this on-going silent genocide and infringement on citizens constitutional rights to health brought about by the negligence on the part of the employer to address grievances within a reasonable time frame”.

Sources on the ground have reported that the government has been forced to draft in army doctors in an attempt to keep hospitals open, however there are not enough of them to replace all those on strike.

Last week the government, through the Health Apex Council, offered to raise the pay of medical professionals by 60 per cent, a compromise that was rejected by ZDHA Secretary General Tawanda Zvakada for being too little.

The Apex Health Council is a body that aims to represent those within the health sector and includes the ZDHA.