Zimbabwe doctors, nurses call off strike after ‘threats’

• Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe return to work after a week-long strike over wages.
• Zimbabwe is experiencing a health worker exodus, with nearly 1,800 nurses last year.
• Nurses earn 18,000 Zimbabwe dollars per month, which is worth around US$55 at exchange rates.

Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe returned to work on Saturday after a week-long wage strike, despite the fact that their demands had not been met, accusing authorities of unspecified threats against workers.

The doctor and nurse associations said in a statement that they had taken note of the situation.”great concern… attempts by some authorities to threaten and victimise the workers”.

“Asking for a living wage should never be viewed as a crime,” they said.

With the government delaying in engaging in further wage negotiations, the workers decided to temporarily halt the strike on compassionate grounds.

They gave government 14 days to address their demands.

Read More: Health workers, teachers strike in Zimbabwe

“This has been done to prevent any further loss of life,” they said.

“It is never the intention of the healthcare workers to walk away from those who need their help,” the associations said in a joint statement.

Nurses earn 18,000 Zimbabwe dollars per month, which is worth around US$55 at the official exchange rate, not enough to buy 15 loaves of bread.

The medics also said that a lack of basics such as paracetamol and bandages in hospitals made their jobs difficult.

Patients in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals already have to buy their own supplies to bring to the long-neglected wards.

Runaway inflation in Zimbabwe jumped 60 percentage points and topped 191 percent this month, reviving memories of the hyperinflation seen more than a decade ago.

Prices ran so out of control in 2008 that the central bank issued 100-trillion-dollar note, which has now become a collector’s item.

Read More: Zimbabwe’s inflation soars to 131.7%

The country is currently experiencing a health worker exodus, with official figures indicating that Zimbabwe lost nearly 1,800 nurses last year alone, primarily to Britain.

This equates to more than 10% of all nurses employed in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals.