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Barring of injured from emergency services slammed

HARARE - The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has condemned the obstruction of injured citizens from emergency medical services in the wake of the violence that rocked the country during the stay-away.
CWG executive director Itai Rusike expressed concern over the consequences of the current situation of violence against citizens’ rights to health and health care.
Violent protests erupted across the country earlier this week following President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s unpopular decision to hike fuel prices.
Soldiers reportedly prevented all movement by civilians, disabling those severely hurt from accessing medical facilities.
Rusike has slammed this behaviour and called upon government to ensure that citizens’ right to medical treatment are not infringed upon.
“Urgent action should be taken to prevent and deal with such acts of violence and that health services should be safe zones. The State is responsible for ensuring the right to life and access to health services, and thus the protection of health workers and clients seeking health care.
“To this end the CWGH calls for active measures to take decisive action against any person obstructing a citizen access to emergency medical services or interfering in the delivery of that emergency service,” he said.
CWGH has also urged government to take decisive action against perpetrators of violence and assault on citizens and to ensure that any victim of injury, assault or other acts of violence are afforded normal and reasonable access to emergency medical services.
“Acts of violence perpetrated against ordinary citizens, (through beatings and gunshot). Abduction and threat of physical assault are too many to list. Protection of health facilities and creation of safe zones demands some form of preventive policing,” Rusike said.
The executive director added that government should protect health facilities against invasion, intimidation of any sort or closure and ensure that health facilities constitute safe zones where intimidation cannot take place.
This comes after Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights a total (ZADHR) released a report sharing critical information on the human rights crisis in the country following the outbreak of the violent protests.
According to the report, 172 people injured were attended to. Sixty-eight of the cases were from gunshot wounds whilst the remainder were from assaults with sharp objects, booted feet, batons, sjamboks and tarmac abrasions.
The doctors’ association described the state’s response as disproportionate, pointing out how some patients were brutally dragged out of the hospital against doctors’ orders.
“ZADHR also witnessed with shock and condemnation the dragging of patients with life-threatening conditions to court. There are cases of patients who had chest trauma (haemopneumothorax) and fractured limbs (femur) that were forcibly taken from hospital to attend court despite the advice of doctors.
“ZADHR has on record that 17 individuals have to date undergone emergency surgery as they had life-threatening conditions. More cases continue to be reported to the association as many people

Nokuthaba Nkomo
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Junior doctors ‘arm-twisted’ to shelve strike

JUNIOR doctors at public hospitals yesterday ended their 40-day long strike after some consultant doctors allegedly threatened to cause them to fail their internship.

By Everson Mushava/Vanessa Gonye

The Zimbabwe Hospitals Doctors’ Association, in a statement, confirmed the decision to “begrudgingly” end the job action before striking a salary deal with government.

“ZHDA is delighted to inform the membership, members of the Press and the public that the industrial action by doctors has come to an end,” ZHDA secretary-general Mthabisi Bhebhe said.
“Sadly, with no salary review, and frozen December salaries, in this rough and ravaging economic environment, it remains a dilemma how our members will report to work daily.

“Indeed, poor remuneration and the current fuel shortages remain a threat that may spontaneously hinder our members from reporting to work and discharging quality health services to patients. That being said, our members have begrudgingly resumed work with effect from today, as dialogue continues.”
Doctors have been on strike since December 1 and efforts by government to get them to return to work hit a brick wall several times.
Sources said the doctors finally made the decision to return to work after they were threatened by consultant doctors that they risked going it alone. The striking doctors were reportedly ordered to call off their strike on Wednesday as government attended to their grievances.

“If they (government) give you a pay rise today, the whole country will demand that and the government will not be able to cope,” a senior doctor involved in the negotiations said.  “The cost of living (adjustment) is coming in March. It is coming, they have promised. Consider what is there on the table and take. If you continue, if the consultant says fire them, you will come back to zero.

“Remember, you are not yet registered with the Medical Council. If you get fired, no matter what you want to do, you will never go anywhere. You would have wasted six years of training. I am pleading with you, suffer for a while.”

Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike said the dispute between the hospital doctors and government was the culmination of a build-up over the years of an inadequate balance between spending on salaries and on the resources and supplies needed for the effective professional practice of personnel.  “For the past five years or so, the doctors have been promised non-cash incentives whenever they strike, but when they resume work, those promises were not fulfilled. Instead, they got threats,” he said.

“CWGH feels that the issue of non-cash incentives such as duty-free vehicles, housing stands and opportunity for career growth has to be prioritised.”

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More doctors report for duty

More doctors yesterday heeded Government’s call to return to work and joined their colleagues who reported for duty on Monday. In a statement yesterday, Government said all doctors who had been on strike at Marondera, Bindura, Gweru, Gwanda and Mutare provincial hospitals had returned to work.

This is in addition to the 340 doctors who have returned to work in Harare, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza and Masvingo.
Of 340 doctors, 105 were from United Bulawayo Hospitals, Mpilo Central Hospital (77), Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals (98), Chitungwiza Central Hospital (27), Harare Central Hospital (29) and Masvingo provincial hospital four.None of the striking doctors at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital have reported for work.

The numbers of doctors returning to works flies in the face of claims by the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) through its Twitter handle that Government’s decision to pursue disciplinary hearings against doctors who violated the law had discouraged them from ending the strike.
“The employer’s position of holding hearings and victimising members who had opted to return to work has backfired. Doctors who had resumed work at Mpilo Hospital have rejoined the industrial action,” claimed the ZHDA.

However, Mpilo clinical director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said six more doctors reported for work yesterday.He said from the doctors who came on Monday, only three did not return yesterday.

“The situation seems to be normalising. We are able to attend to emergencies. Although three doctors who had initially reported for work on Monday did not come today, six more showed up,” said Dr Ngwenya.Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals operations director Mr Edson Mundenda said more doctors also reported for work yesterday.

As of midday, Mr Mundenda said 11 junior registrars, eight senior registrars, four senior houseman officers (SHOs) and three junior resident medical officers (JRMOs) had reported for work.However, the number of senior resident medical officers (SRMOs) who reported for work remained at 12.

Chitungwiza Central Hospital operations director Mr Washington Machiridza said more SRMOs reported for work yesterday.
These latest developments follow a ZHDA voting process to continue the strike on Monday, which some doctors voted against.
Sources close to the process said about 15 percent of striking doctors from Parirenyatwa and Harare Central Hospital voted against continuing the strike.

They further said while UBH voted for the strike, Mpilo Hospital voted against. “At the end of the voting process, about three quarters of ZHDA members did not want to continue with the strike,” added the source.
Commenting on how events were folding, public health analyst Mr Itai Rusike said doctors were also individuals with different financial responsibilities and considering that those taking part in the strike had their salaries withdrawn, some could no longer sustain living without a salary.
“Some need rentals, food and now schools have just opened, they need fees for their children and seeing that this strike is not taking them anywhere, others might give up slowly,” said Mr Rusike.He, however, said in the interest of suffering patients, it was high time Government and the striking doctors found each other.
He said the doctors must consider other concessions which Government had put on the table given the limited fiscal space after the budget announcement.“The doctors must appreciate the economic situation. It is not all about monetary issues; they should consider other non-monetary incentives which Government can offer,” said Mr Rusike.He, however, said Government itself must also be clear on what it was offering and what it cannot offer at the moment to gain employees’ trust.

Today, marks 38 days after the ZHDA called for an industrial action demanding a review of remuneration and better working conditions. The strike was, however, ruled illegal by the Labour Court.On the other hand, Government has made several concessions which some of the doctors have turned down, insisting that they be paid in US dollars.

Paidamoyo Chipunza and Kudzaishe Chinyandura

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Free maternity services require solid funding

THE heavily pregnant woman lying on the floor in a maternity ward at Harare Central Hospital stretches out her hand to greet First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa.
BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
An unidentified expecting mother at Harare Central Hospital (right) has to make do on the floor due to shortage of beds in the maternity wing
For the briefest moment, the woman forgets about the hard, cold and uncomfortable surface and basks in the glow of being in the presence of “greatness”.
A wide grin splits her youthful face and she nods her head as the First Lady whispers some congratulatory words.
But once the colourful parade and its entourage has moved on, reality sinks right back in and once again the pregnant woman and her colleagues in the overcrowded maternity ward crouch back into their makeshift beds on the floor.
Harare and Parirenyatwa hospitals’ maternity wards, just like in most public health facilities across the country, are swamped with patients and many have resorted to sleeping on the floor.
This follows the scrapping of maternity user fees in accordance with the government policy.
During a tour of Harare Hospital’s maternity wards on the side-lines of the handover of the refurbished maternity wards by the First Lady recently, there was quite a huge number of women using floor beds.
This sad scenario apparently has become the norm in public hospitals.
Harare Hospital has a carrying capacity of around 100 women, but is currently being stretched to accommodate between 150 and 200 women. This also means pressure on the ablution facilities.
The government’s policy on free maternal health has seen a lot of women seeking help at the country’s major referral centres, Harare Central Hospital and Parirenyatwa.

Council clinics are still charging maternity fees and so many women will end up at government health facilities which are offering these for free.
A tour of Parirenyatwa also revealed the same problems. Maternity wards are full to capacity with many women using makeshifts beds.
“We handle births exceeding 20 in one night and this weighs heavily on the staff that have to work extra to contain the situation,” said a nurse who declined to be named.
She said the staffing levels had not increased and the wards had not expanded to cater for the overwhelming number of women.
“This will ultimately compromise services because the staff will be exhausted from handling so many women.
The women, however, had mixed reactions. Some were quite happy to even have the floor bed as long as they were not paying for it.
“I did not have the maternity fees for the council clinic where I stay so I came here to Parirenyatwa,” said a young first-time mother showing off her baby.
However, others felt that it was dehumanising to sleep on the floor and if they had a choice they would not agree to the set up.
The hospital’s public relations manager Linos Dhire said indeed the maternity wards were overstretched but they could not turn away pregnant women.
“The floor beds have been adopted to manage the ever increasing number of pregnant women who come for the free services. It is a good policy, only that the space is not big enough,” he said.
Community Working Group on Health director Itai Rusike said the abolishment of user fees should be backed up by provision of adequate resources.
“The blanket removal of user fees for pregnant women without clear vetting mechanisms for those that can still afford to pay presents a high risk of suffocating the public health delivery system,” he said.
Rusike also said government may need to seriously look at the long outstanding issue of building district hospitals in major cities to decongest the central hospitals.
“Resources must trickle down to the primary care level to avoid the assumption that the higher levels are better funded and better equipped,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it is not clear on how the ministry is going to fund the gap as pregnant women and under five children constitute the majority of the patients.”
Since 2009, the Health ministry has not been allocating significant resources for maternal and child care services.
This has created an over reliance on donor pools which are not sustainable.
Rusike said the free user fee policy for pregnant women and children under five should not just be political rhetoric.
“The health broken institutions need support with resources from the national budget. We need to protect the dignity of patients once they are admitted in our health institutions,” he said.
Speaking on the issue, Fungisayi Dube from the Citizens Health Watch said the policy was not practicable.
“It cannot be operationalised. It is sad and I do not think there is an effort to change things yet.”

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Not The Time For Blame Game- CWGH

THE Cholera outbreak obtaining in Zimbabwe is not a platform to politically outfox each other or exhibit political muscle and prowess as lives are at stake, Community Working Group on Health executive director, Itai Rusike has warned.
By Michael Gwarisa
Commenting on the prevailing Cholera outbreak, Rusike said in as much as the rising number of Cholera deaths and infections exposes the government’s poor disaster mitigation mechanisms or perhaps the lack of political will, this was no time to shift blame on each other but to work together as a progressive force against Cholera.
“Other than declaring the cholera outbreak, that has so far claimed 25 lives and infected 3 700 people, a state of emergency, government response has been lukewarm and at a snail’s pace. Outbreaks of gigantic proportions like these require a very swift national response through raising awareness, treatment and restoration of basic social services. It is appalling that in 2018, people are still dying of such a primitive and preventable disease.
“The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) calls for a concerted approach among key stakeholders that include the government, local authorities, residents associations, corporate world and the donor community to address the pandemic to save lives. It will be grossly irresponsible and dereliction of national responsibility for the government to allow the situation to degenerate to the 2008 levels where cholera claimed over 4500 lives and left several thousands affected,” said Rusike.
He added that the most worrisome aspect of the epidemic was the fact that the Cholera was that of a drug resistant strain bacteria which could hamper all the efforts if no solution is devised sooner.
“It is terrifying to hear that the strain of cholera bacteria that was isolated in patients in Harare has been determined to be resistant to first line antibiotics Ciprofloxacin and Ceftriaxone. A situational report prepared by the Ministry of Health and World Health
“Organization has painted a grim picture of the challenges facing the city of Harare at the moment saying 2 million people are in danger of co-infection of both cholera and typhoid. With resistance to first line medication it becomes imperative that the government source alternative medicine.”
He also took a swipe at government for neglecting the cholera crisis for the love of lavish lifestyles.
“The US$1m availed by government – criticized for its unquenchable propensity of spending on luxury cars for the Chiefs than important national issues – is not only paltry but an insult to relatives and friends who have succumbed to cholera, typhoid and other waterborne diseases in the past days.
“The cholera outbreak highlights the failure of government to maintain basic public health standards. It is a terrible consequence of failing to invest in and manage both its basic water and sanitation infrastructure and its health system. In most urban centres, residents go for months without tap water, forcing them to dig shallow and unprotected wells and boreholes that have been contaminated by raw
sewage flowing from burst pipes.
“Cities, once the epitome of good hygiene, have now been turned into big communal villages. Local authorities are in charge of all water delivery, sewerage, and refuse collection. They are also the recipients of all rates paid by residents who expect proper service delivery. Authorities must be held accountable to all these preventable an avoidable deaths. We have also heard with dismay, how City authorities are diverting money paid by residents to buy luxury cars and giving each other loans for personal gain,” he said.
He emphasized on the need for clean water in the short term so as to avoid new infections and reinfections in the cholera epicentre areas.
“Residents need adequate aqua tablets, they need boreholes; they need water bowsers as a matter of urgency. The MoHCC, the city fathers together with residents associations and other stakeholders must increase public health awareness programmes and improve public engagement forums to disseminate accurate information to residents.
“In the long term, Zimbabwe needs a consistent supply of clean water to all its people and in urban areas, replace the old water pipes that are letting sewage sip into the water reticulation system to permanently stop future outbreaks. Remember, most of these water and sewer pipes were laid during the colonial era and no effort has been made to replace them 38 years after independence.”
He also urged the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), who are the custodian of the recently signed Public Health Act (PHA), to utilize the new law to deal and prevent the outbreak of preventable diseases such as cholera and typhoid. The revised Public Health Act should not just remain on paper but fully implemented and enforced to address the public health concerns.
“The network would like to applaud the corporate world and the donor community for chipping in with material and financial resources in an effort to stop the outbreak. We, however, would like to quickly point out that overreliance on external assistance is not sustainable for any country especially in Zimbabwe where, in most cases, political considerations supersedes all other considerations.
“For years now, Zimbabwe has been failing to adequately provide for the health sector resulting in the outbreak of archaic diseases. It has never met the 15% Abuja target despite acceding to the Declaration over a decade ago. The country is endowed with several kinds of mineral resources that it should not struggle to fund its health delivery system. It has gold, diamonds, platinum, lithium, nickel, chrome and several other at its disposal but surprisingly it is failing to adequately utilize them. This clearly points to poor prioritization or poor governance and lack of accountability as the resources are channeled to less needy areas to satisfy personal political needs.”
He also said that the failure, or perhaps lack of political will, to prioritise funding the health sector gives credence to the widely-held perception that government has been acting that way because most of the political elite are not treated locally but airlifted abroad, even for minor ailments, at the taxpayer’s expense.
“Only the poor are “treated” at local clinic where there are no medicines. Surely, how do you explain the “manmade deaths” to medieval diseases such as typhoid, cholera, the absence of emergency services and now the likely deaths from TB, which is treatable in this day and age”

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Ncube criticised over failure to prioritise health

FINANCE minister Mthuli Ncube has been criticised for failing to prioritise the funding of health in the 2019 budget, with health lobbyists dismissing it as a mere ‘ritual’ and a piece meal, which falls short in addressing the comatose health delivery system, plagued by drug outages and poor infrastructure.
BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
Although the allocation of $694,5 million (9,3%) is an increase of 33% from last year’s, it is still a far cry from the target of 15% set in 2001 by members of the African Union during a conference in Abuja, Nigeria.
Pitted against galloping prices for drugs, often charged in foreign currency, and an acute shortage of essential equipment in public health facilities as well as key staff, the amount is a far cry from the target of $1,3 billion, which the ministry requires to function properly.
In his presentation, Mthuli said “focus will be on ensuring that the referral system is re-established”.
Community Working Group on Health chief executive Itai Rusike said the allocation was inadequate.
“The massive increase in essential drug costs, drop in drug purchase by low income people and a fall in use of essential health care services are all issues that need looking into,” he said.
Rusike said the state of health services’ near-collapse is directly related to government misplacing its priorities.
Health lobbyist Fungisayi Dube, of the Citizens Health Watch, said the budget demonstrated that government did not prioritise health services.
“The budget sounds more like just a process or ritual that needs to be done. If the government really appreciated the challenges in the hospitals, they would have given a meaningful allocation,” she said.
Dube said it was disappointing to note that there had not been a deliberate effort to address maternal health challenges against a backdrop where “2000 women die every year due to maternal deaths”.

She, however, appreciated the pharmaceutical duty rebate on essential raw materials for drug manufacturing.
“We just hope it will be sustained to make menstruation easy and bearable for women. We want to see if this will really reduce the costs we incur every month,” she said.
Health rights and social equity expert Rutendo Bonde said it was a daunting task to prioritise health, among so many competing urgencies.
“However, what is good in this budget is significant investment in some other areas like measures to support local pharmaceuticals. For how long can we run a health delivery on imported drugs?” she said.
The situation at most public health facilities continues to spiral out of control, with institutions struggling to function on a shoe-string budget.
This has also resulted in staff getting demotivated and in turn lump it on the patients, who bear the brunt of it all.

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Gvt To Blame For Recurrent Doctors Strikes- CWGH

FAILURE by government to come up with a pro poor national budget which priorities basic health needs, is the leading cause for perennial strikes by medical doctors and other health staff, the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has said.
By Michael Gwarisa
Within a single year, doctors have twice embarked on nationwide strikes that have crippled operations at all major health institutions resulting in the untold suffering of patients and possibly numerous deaths that could have been avoided.
CWGH Executive Director Mr Itai Rusike said it was shocking that doctors were striking over the same issues they downed tools for early this year a development which shows lack urgency and seriousness of behalf of government.
“What is most disturbing and worrying is that the doctors are striking over the same issues that they were demanding in March this year and which the government had publicly pledged to address to ensure normalcy in the health sector. Then like today, the doctors are protesting against the severe shortages of medicines in public hospitals, poor working conditions, dilapidated infrastructure and obsolete medical equipment.
“They are also demanding that they be paid in foreign currency to cushion themselves from the worsening economic decline characterized by rising prices of basic commodities and high inflation. The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) is worried that these are the same grievances that government pledged to address in March this year — together with the provision of non-cash incentives like free duty car imports for doctors – but nine months down the line nothing has come to fruition,” said Rusike.
He reminded that it was government’s national obligation to see that its citizens have access to quality and affordable health services as guaranteed in section 76 of the country’s Constitution. And that responsibility can only be achieved when health personnel like doctors, physicians and nurses are working normally.
“Section 76 further states that, “No person may be refused emergency medical treatment in any healthcare institution,” but presently the hospitals are turning away critically-ill patients because there are not doctors to attend to them and key departments have been shut down.”
He also took a swipe at Health and Child Care minister, Dr Obadia Moyo being literally blind to the real issues facing doctors and dwelling more on petty legal issues.
“It is shocking that the Health Minister Obadiah Moyo dwells on the legality of the job action than solutions as if he is reading from his predecessor’s script. No responsible and accountable Minister or government would turn a blind eye to a crisis of this magnitude or wishes it away. We are in this health crisis Minister because your predecessor used to behave the same way: burying his head in the sand than tackling the issue head-on.
“Leadership and management support at the highest level is also pivotal as health workers are motivated to perform and long standing grievances simply should not be allowed to build up and promises made must be fulfilled.
For the past five years or so, the doctors have been promised non- cash incentives whenever they strike but when they resume work those promises were not fulfilled, instead they got threats,” said Rusike.
He also deplored failure to prioritise issues of welfare, incentives and allowance of doctors which says should neer be ignored by any serious government with health workers at heart.
“CWGH feels that the issue of non-cash incentives such as duty-free vehicles, housing stands and opportunity for career growth has to be prioritized. The vehicle duty assisted framework and other incentives agreed upon between the government and doctors last year should be implemented immediately to enable them to respond to medical emergencies timeously.
“It should be highlighted that the situation obtaining in the health sector contradicts President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s statement in September this year when he said his administration prioritized health and the well-being of all Zimbabwean citizens. CWGH pleads with President to intervene to address the crisis in the health sector to prevent unnecessary suffering and avoidable deaths.”
According to CWGH, the health workforce is central in any health system and gaps in adequate health workers are cited as one barrier in efforts to achieve health and development in Zimbabwe.
“Both for quality and equity, health systems need highly motivated health workers who are satisfied with their jobs, stay at their stations, deliver quality services and communicate well with clients.
“It is disheartening that the strike by doctors comes at a time when new cases of suspected cholera deaths are also being reported in areas such as Chiredzi and Mt Darwin. The current situation spells doom for the country especially now when there is a critical shortage of basic medicines; some sold pricey in foreign currency and worsening economic meltdown. This means more suffering and deaths for the ordinary Zimbabweans who cannot afford to get foreign currency. ”
The strike also comes at a time the country’s emergence services have been grounded due to poor funding from central government. A number of ambulances do not have basic equipment or adequately trained staff to take care of patients during transit, also complicating their recovery or risking fatalities in transit.
Emergency departments are under resourced, without adequate equipment and staff to cope with the critically ill patients coming to them, including patients who have delayed seeking care until they have an acute emergency.
“CWGH would like to reiterate that in the absence of an enticing salary, the government must find ways of supplementing with other non-cash incentives as heath workers do not only seek financial incentives but also personal development, better housing, specialization and guaranteed welfare of their children. Such incentives create stabilizing influence, compared to the more rapid effects of financial incentives.
“This is why CWGH has been calling for a pro-poor, inclusive and sustainable national budget framework that prioritises people and their basic needs especially health. However, it is worrying that allocation on the health care in the 20019 budget as a percentage of total expenditure continues to account for a small share of national spending. This year, the health sector got about 8.9% way below the 15% Abuja target. This is a clear sign of lack of political commitment in addressing problems in the health sector.
“While we do not condone job actions that cause deaths and human suffering, but we also strongly feel that there must be speedy, fair and impartial procedure for resolving disputes. We fear that the longer the strike takes, the more patients suffer or die, and the likelihood of other health personnel such as nurses joining the job action increases. This is not the time for promises anymore but long-term solutions.”

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More doctors join strike

More doctors yesterday joined the on-going strike, defying a government message to call off the job action.

BY VANESSA GONYE/EVERSON MUSHAVA

The doctors have been on strike since Saturday to protest poor remuneration and the deteriorating health situation in the country.

“Only four out of 91 doctors came for work and I think the rest are waiting for talks between the doctors’ association and the employer over the issue of solving their problems before they report for duty,” Harare Central Hospital CEO Nyasha Masuka said.

Parirenyatwa Hospital and public health institutions in Manicaland and Bulawayo faced similar situations, with Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospital keeping their out patient departments closed.

The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) yesterdya also distanced itself from utterances made by former member, Patrick Mugoni, who “represented” doctors at a meeting with the Health minister on Monday and appeared on the national televison urging doctors to go back to work.

Mugoni, who was ZHDA secretary-general until a few weeks ago when he was removed from office through a vote of no confidence for being partisan, is said to have met with Health minister, Obadiah Moyo on the pretext that he was representating the association and subsequently announced that doctors should resume duties with immediate effect while their grievances have not been addressed.

ZHDA said Mugoni was a bogus agent and not one of their own.

“The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association wishes to advise members of the medical profession, the media and the public at large of the futile attempts by one Patrick Mugoni, who appeared on ZBC purporting to represent ZHDA. The concerned doctor has been fired from the association for bringing the name of ZHDA into disrepute and violating the constitution of the ZHDA.”

“Dr Patrick Mugoni was suspended from the ZHDA after ‘crying’ while addressing the Zanu PF rally in Gweru. The ZHDA executive urges all stakeholders to ignore his utterances and any communication on the industrial action will be made through the information department,” ZHDA said in a statement.
ZHDA also promised to have Mugoni examined by colleagues in the profession and to give him psychological help and counselling, if needed.

Mugoni is infamous for weeping on national television after the doctors were awarded a pay hike in March. He said at the time he had been overwhelmed by emotions.

Zimbabwe Nurses’ Association (Zina) secretary-general, Enock Dongo, speaking on behalf of the Health Services Board yesterday said health workers were still negotiating with government.

“We are still negotiating with government, doctors are a single union that has downed tools, we appreciate that they have a genuine cause,” Dongo said.

Cabinet yesterday said it did not deliberate on the issue of the doctors’ strike.

“We did not discuss about the doctors’ strike because the Health minister told us that he talked to the them and that they have agreed to go back to work,” acting Information minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said yesterday.

The doctors expressed concern at the Health minister’s conduct.

“We wish to set the record straight that the industrial action that started on the 1st of December 2018 is still ongoing and the healthcare crisis in the country has reached an unprecedented critical level. Instead of addressing what is now perceived as a serious national health crisis, the Minister of Health seems to display an ‘I do not care’ attitude and ‘it is business as usual’ approach.

“We are even greatly disturbed that the minister went on national television in the evening of (Monday) to misinform the whole nation that the ongoing industrial action has been called off. He went on to acknowledge there is a serious shortage of vital medicines in public hospitals but nothing was being done,” ZHDA said.

Other stakeholders also laid into the Health minister for not handling the issue professionally.

“It is shocking that the Health minister Obadiah Moyo dwells on the legality of the job action than solutions as if he is reading from his predecessor’s script. No responsible and accountable minister or government would turn a blind eye to a crisis of this magnitude or wishes it away. We are in this health crisis minister because your predecessor (David Parirenyatwa) used to behave the same way: burying his head in the sand than tackling the issue head-on,” Community Working Group on Health director Itai Rusike said.

“We would like to remind the government that it has a national obligation to see that its citizens have access to quality and affordable health services as guaranteed in section 76 of the country’s Constitution. And that responsibility can only be achieved when health personnel like doctors, physicians and nurses are working normally,” Rusike said.

Meanwhile, Moyo at a Press conference revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has unveiled a $25 million drug facility, with about 100 000 tonnes of medicine set to arrive from India.